Fahdawi was born in 1986. In 2006, while studyingcomputer science at theUniversity of Anbar, he was arrested by US forces on charges of belonging toAl-Qaeda in Iraq. Following his arrest, Fahdawi was detained by US forces at theCamp Bucca detention facility in southern Iraq until 2009, when he was sentenced to death and moved to Tikrit Central Prison in theSaladin Governorate.[2]
Fahdawi was one of 110 detainees who escaped the prison in 2012, following an attack on the prison by forces from theIslamic State of Iraq leading to a subsequent riot within the prison.[2] He had learnt from the senior ISI leaders he had been imprisoned with, and he became a field commander inAnbar Province after his release.[2] Iraqi officials blamed him for a long list of terror-related offences and put a $50,000 bounty on him.[3]
Fahdawi killed three SyrianAlawite truck drivers in western Iraq in the summer of 2013.[3]
By 2014, Fahdawi was playing an important role in leading combat operations of the group, now known as theIslamic State, inAnbar Province. His notoriety in Anbar was so prominent that the province was referred to as his "hunting grounds".[11]
According to transcripts,Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of the Orlando nightclub shooting, said that the attack was a response to the killing of Abu Waheeb.[13] Mateen stated his attack was "triggered" by a May 6, 2016 U.S. bombing strike that killed Abu Waheeb. Mateen's words were: "That's what triggered it, OK? They should have not bombed and killed Abu [Waheeb]."[14]Mateen also told a negotiator that "a lot of innocent people" were being killed and, "tell America to stopbombing Syria and Iraq".[15][16]
^Doornbos, Caitlin (September 23, 2016)."Transcripts of 911 calls reveal Pulse shooter's terrorist motives".Orlando Sentinel. Archived fromthe original on October 12, 2019. RetrievedSeptember 28, 2016.Mateen referred to a U.S.-led air strike on May 6 that killed Abu Wahib, an ISIS military commander in Iraq, and three other jihadists, according to the Pentagon. "That's what triggered it, OK?" Mateen said. "They should have not bombed and killed Abu [Waheeb]."
Islamic State