Haji Bakr | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi |
| Nicknames | 'Knight of the Silencers'[1] 'Lord of the Shadows'[2] |
| Born | ca. 1958–1964[2] Iraq |
| Died | January 2014(late fifties)[2] |
| Allegiance |  Baathist Iraq(unknown–2003)
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant(2013–2014) |
| Branch | Iraqi Army(until 2003) ISIL military(8 April 2013 – January 2014) |
| Rank | Colonel(until 2003) ISIL Military Chief and overall leader of ISIL in Syria (April 2010 – January 2014)[3] |
| Battles / wars | 1991 Iraq War 2003 Iraq War Iraqi insurgency |
Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi (Arabic:سمير عبد محمد العبيدي الدليمي;c. 1958-1964 – January 2014), better known by the pseudonymHaji Bakr (Arabic:حجي بكر) and sometimes hiskunyaAbu Bakr al-Iraqi (Arabic:أبو بكر العراقي),[4] was a senior leader of the militant groupIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), heading its Military Council and leading its operations in Syria, prior to his killing bySyrian rebels in January 2014.[2][5] Previously a Colonel in theIraqi Intelligence Service, papers found after his death indicated that al-Khlifawi played a key role in devising the plans ISIL used to conquer and administer territory in Syria and Iraq.[2]
Prior to the2003 invasion of Iraq and overthrow ofSaddam Hussein, al-Khlifawi had been an Iraqi Army colonel who had worked on weapons development and in the intelligence services ofSaddam's Air Defense Corps.[6] According to Iraqi journalist Hisham al-Hashimi, whose cousin served with Khlifawi, he was stationed for a period of time atHabbaniya Air Base. Iraqi Intelligence say that he joinedal-Qaida in Iraq in 2004 and took part in theIraqi insurgency.[7]
Arrested by American forces, al-Khlifawi was held in detention inCamp Bucca, alongside many of the men who would form the senior leadership ofISIL, includingAbu Muslim al-Turkmani,Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi and future leaderAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[8][9][10]
Following his release he became a senior leader in theIslamic State of Iraq (ISI), and led the group's military council following the killing of top commandersAbu Omar al-Baghdadi andAbu Ayyub al-Masri by US Forces in 2010. Al-Khlifawi played an influential role inAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi becoming the next ISI leader, and reportedly organized an internalpurge, including scores of assassinations, in order to solidify al-Baghdadi's control of the group.[6][11]
The then-ISI took advantage of the 2011 outbreak ofCivil War in neighboring Syria to grow their organisation. Al-Khlifawi moved to an unremarkable house[12] in the small Syrian town ofTell Rifaat, just north ofAleppo in late 2012, along with his wife.[12] It was here where he organised the group's takeover of territory in parts of the country using his experience as a former Intelligence Officer. Documents written by al-Khlifawi, and discovered by Syrian rebels in his hideout, showed that the group was following a strategy to initially use intelligence gathering, infiltration of local power bases, and tactical short-term alliances with local power brokers to establish themselves in the area. This would expand to include kidnappings and assassinations of potential threats before the group would seize control of the territory and utilize the already established network of informers in the area to become the base of a governance system in the region.[2][13]
Al-Khlifawi was killed in early January 2014 inTell Rifaat duringclashes betweenISIL andSyrian rebels by members of theSyrian Martyrs' Brigade, who were not aware of his importance.[2][7][11] Prior to his death, he had refused to move to a heavily guarded ISIL headquarters near his house because of his addiction to living in the shadows.[12] One of his neighbours betrayed him by saying "A Daesh (ISIL) sheikh lives next door". Soon after, rival Syrian rebel militiamen forced their way into his house and al-Khlifawi fought the attackers back with his AK weapon but he was killed during the gunfights.[12] Following al-Khlifawi's death,Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, another former Iraqi Military officer, took his place in ISIL's Military Council.[14]
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