Taha Subhi Falaha[a] (1977 – 30 August 2016), commonly known by hisnom de guerreAbu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami,[b] was aSyrian-born militant leader who was the officialspokesperson and a senior leader of theIslamic State.[6][7] He was described as the chief of its external operations. He was the second most senior leader of the Islamic State after its leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[4] Media reports in August 2016 suggested he was in charge of a special unit, known as theEmni, that was established by IS in 2014 with the double objective of internal policing and executing terrorist attacks outside IS territory.[8][9]
On 30 August 2016, the Islamic State announced al-Adnani had been killed inAleppo Province. A number of fighting forces claimed responsibility for al-Adnani's death. On 12 September 2016, theU.S. Department of Defense announced that a U.S. coalition airstrike had killed al-Adnani,[11] even though theRussian Federation had already claimed that Adnani had been killed in a Russian airstrike involving anSu-34 bomber.[12][13]
He was summoned for questioning repeatedly by theSyrian General Intelligence Directorate and was arrested three times. One of the times he was arrested was when he was passing throughal-Bukamal on his way toIraq for the first time. He spent months in jail and was finally freed after he refused to divulge information, despite being tortured. Al-Adnani, alongsideAbu Hamza al-Muhajir, was one of the last to evacuate the city ofFallujah after theSecond Battle of Fallujah in 2004.[5]
In May 2005 Al-Adnani was arrested by Coalition forces inAl Anbar Governorate in Iraq under a fake name "Yasser Khalaf Hussein Nazal al-Rawi", and was released in 2010 after serving time inAbu Ghraib prison.[14][16] In December 2012, an Iraqi intelligence official said he was using a number of aliases including "Abu Mohamed al-Adnani, Taha al-Banshi, Jaber Taha Falah, Abu Baker al-Khatab and Abu Sadek al-Rawi."[14]
Al-Adnani was highly respected by his fellow fighters throughout his time in the Iraqi insurgency, withISI leaderAbu Omar al-Baghdadi saying about him, "It will be for this man the whole affair (of jihad)".Abu Musab al-Zarqawi trusted him so much that he allowed him to make executive decisions independently, saying "Do not consult me on matters, just brief me." He was also the teacher ofManaf Abd al-Rahim al-Rawi, theIslamic State of Iraq "governor" for Baghdad province. He was highly respected byAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi the leader of theIslamic State and he was considered by many sources to be second-in-command to Baghdadi.
According to Harry Sarfo, a former German member of the group. "The big man behind everything is Abu Muhammad al-Adnani. ... He is the head of the Emni, and he is the head of the special forces as well. ... Everything goes back to him."[17]
According to a former IS militant and a former Yazidi slave, al-Adnani personally participated in the burning death of Jordanian pilotMuath al-Kasasbeh in 2015, and directed IS media crews to produce videos of killings.[18][19][20]
On 4 January 2016, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani was reportedly injured by an Iraqi airstrike onBarwanah, nearHaditha, Iraq and was moved to Mosul for recovery.[21][22]
"O Our People Respond to the Caller of Allah" (23 June 2015)[44]
"Say to Those Who Disbelieve You Will Be Overcome" (October 15, 2015)[45]
"And Those Who Lived [In Faith] Would Live Upon Evidence" (21 May 2016)[46]
As spokesman of theIslamic State, Adnani made a considerable number of speeches. His rhetorical style received attention. Abu al-Waleed al-Salafi, a researcher, comments, "I have analysed the speeches ofBaghdadi and Adnani psychologically more than once, and I found a result: that Adnani's speech seeks to inspire zeal in the soul, while Baghdadi's speech seeks to inspire calm."[47] Adnani's vitriolic speaking style established his reputation as the 'attack dog' of the Islamic State, especially for his denunciations ofal-Qaeda and commands to commit terrorist attacks inWestern countries.
On 22 September 2014, al-Adnani gave a lengthy speech entitled "Indeed, Your Lord Is Ever Watchful", which was significant because it was the first official instruction by the Islamic State for its supporters to killnon-Muslims in Western countries. This speech has been credited with inspiring a wave ofIslamic terrorism in Europe.
Among other things, Al-Adnani said:
If you can kill a disbelieving American or European - especially the spiteful and filthy French - or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be.
and later on:
If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him.[48][49]
On 30 August 2016, theIslamic State announced that Adnani had been killed inAleppo Governorate while inspecting the frontlines nearal-Bab.[50][51] The Russian Federation claimed that Adnani had been killed in a Tuesday (30 August 2016)Russian airstrike.[12][13] Specifically, the Russian Defense Ministry indicated on August 31 that al-Adnani was killed in theMaarat Umm Hawsh area of Aleppo as the result of an airstrike conducted by a RussianSu-34 bomber, a strike which targeted and hit a group of about 40 Islamic State fighters.[52]
An unnamed U.S. defense official said, "coalition forces conducted an airstrike inal-Bab, Syria, targeting an ISIL senior leader" and were still trying to confirm whether he was killed.[53] A U.S. defense official called the Russian claim to have killed al-Adnani "preposterous" and "a joke" and said they stand by the statement made on August 30 that U.S. forces conducted the strike that targeted al-Adnani.[54][55] Also, earlier in the day on 30 August 2016, a U.S. military intelligence official stated that al-Adnani was wounded several days previous and succumbed to his injuries inal-Bab.[56]
TheU.S. Department of Defense confirmed on 12 September that al-Adnani had been killed in an airstrike on 30 August near al-Bab.[57][11]
After his death al-Adnani was featured on the cover of the first issue of IS propaganda magazineRumiyah, which praised both his life as a jihadist and his 'martyrdom'. It repeatedly stated that the killing of al-Adnani will only strengthen the organization as there are many who will follow his path and replace him.[58]
He wrote a number of books, includingThe Context of Jihad and Its Related Issues andVerses on the Jurisprudence of Jihad, that he penned while being imprisoned by the Americans. Many of his publications eventually served as textbooks forIslamic State fighters in training camps, where he also used to teach theArabic language and its grammar, as well asIslamic law.[59]
