Abu Omar al-Turkistani | |
|---|---|
 Abu Omar al-Turkistani in Afghanistan | |
| Born | |
| Died | 1 January 2017[1] |
| Allegiance |  al-Qaeda(c. 2000–17)
 Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria(2015–17) |
| Years of service | c. 2000–2017 |
| Rank | IJU commander(until 2015)[1] Leader of Ansar Jihad[1] Leading TIP commander in Syria[2] |
| Battles / wars | War on Terror |
Abu Omar al-Turkistani[a] (Arabic:أبو عمر التركستاني,Chinese:阿布·奧瑪爾·突厥斯塔尼; died 1 January 2017) was a high-ranking commander for severalal-Qaeda-affiliated groups, such as theIslamic Jihad Union (IJU), theAl-Nusra Front and theTurkistan Islamic Party in Syria (TIP). Active as a militant since at least 2001, al-Turkistani fought in both theWar in Afghanistan and theSyrian Civil War. By late 2016, he was considered to be "one of top ten leading 'jihadists' inSyria" and one of the "four most prominent leaders" of TIP.[2] Shortly before his death, al-Turkistani helped to facilitate the merger of manyIslamist rebel groups intoTahrir al-Sham. He was eventually killed by an Americandrone strike on 1 January 2017.
Most of Abu Omar al-Turkistani's early life, including his birth name, is unknown. An ethnicUyghur, he originally lived inXinjiang,China, but migrated to Afghanistan and joinedal-Qaeda sometime before theUS invasion in 2001. WhenUnited States-led forcesattackedOsama bin Laden's stronghold atTora Bora, al-Turkistani was among the local defenders; after the battle's end, he fled toPakistan, where he was arrested and jailed by theInter-Services Intelligence until around 2011.[1]
After being released, al-Turkistani returned to Afghanistan and joined theIslamic Jihad Union (IJU), an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, in order to fight theAfghan government andISAF. Though IJU is primarily composed ofUzbeks, it also includes members of many other ethnicities. Because of that, al-Turkistani quickly rose in prominence within the rebel group, as he was fluent in several languages, among themEnglish,Pashto, andRussian. He eventually became one of IJU's commanders, fighting with the unit until he left Afghanistan for Syria sometime in 2015.[1]
In Syria, al-Turkistani became the commander of Ansar Jihad, a Jihadist rebel group that consists of fighters fromCentral Asia andTurkey; according to theLong War Journal, Ansar Jihad is probably a sub-unit of al-Qaeda's Syrian branch, theal-Nusra Front. Al-Turkistani led Ansar Jihad into battles inLatakia Governorate andAleppo, most prominently during theAleppo offensive of October and November 2016. Besides these activities, he appears to have simultaneously become the leading commander of theTurkistan Islamic Party in Syria (TIP).[1] A UyghurIslamic extremistseparatist organization, TIP's primary enemy is China, though the group has become especially prominent and powerful in Syria.[3]
In late 2016, al-Turkistani took part in talks between the al-Nusra Front (by then renamed to "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham") and various other rebel groups about a merger into a major coalition. In these talks, he reportedly played a leading role and was seen as someone who could perhaps assume a leadership position in the proposed union.[4] On 1 January 2017, however, he and two other al-Qaeda veteran commanders, Abu Khattab al Qahtani and Abu Mu’tasim al-Dairi, were killed by a US drone strike.[4] Their convoy was struck after leaving the town ofSarmada inIdlib Governorate. Al-Turkistani was subsequently declared amartyr by Jihadi online outlets,[4][1] with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham condemning the attack as sign that the United States had "chosenBashar al-Assad over theSyrian people."[3] Meanwhile, Ansar Jihad released a laudatory biography of their killed leader.[1] On the other side, al-Turkistani's death also received considerable attention in China, where manynetizens celebrated his killing and even called it a "superbNew Year's gift". In contrast,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang declined to comment on the air strike.[5]
