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Hyper specific thread about a leader of the Islamic State
I’m reading the bio of Ayad al Jumaili aka Abu Yahya al Iraqi. In June 2017 Reuters wrote that Abu Yahya al Iraqi was one of the two potential successors of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi to lead the Islamic State. First of all: he is dead, as confirmed by the formula -تقبله الله- 
The bio is relatively recent (written on November 16, 2018) and the title says “al sheykh al mujahid”, thus confirming Abu Yahya al Iraqi was a leader of great significance – just under Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in the chain of command of the Islamic State
Abu Yahya al Iraqi was a quite secretive leader even for the standards of the Islamic State. No videos as far as we know. I archived two pics of him for the first time in September 2017: on the right the mugshot taken in Camp Bucca (wood background)
This now is the third known picture of Abu Yahya al Iraqi (found attached to bio, see yellow hand), taken in Syria with the other rumored candidate to replace al Baghdadi: Iyad al Obeidi aka Abu Saleh Haifa. Both are dead – while Baghdadi lives
After the death of the top ranking leaders (2014-2016: Adnani, Abu Ali al Anbari, Abu Muslim al Turkmani…) Abu Yahya al Iraqi and Abu Saleh Haifa became deputies of Baghdadi. Iraqi intel knows them since long time, here their faces on a wallboard of the Falcons Cell circa 2013
Abu Yahya al Iraqi was the Wali of Idlib before and after the split from Jabhat al Nusra (April 2013). Now I can complete the map of the Walis of the Islamic State in Northern Syria in the first stage of the civil war all along the border: Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo, Raqqa, Hasaka…
Left to right, between late 2012 and January 2014. Wali of Latakia: Abu Ayman al Iraqi. Of Idlib: Abu Yahya al Iraqi. Of Aleppo: Abu Atheer al Absi. Of Raqqa: Abu Loqman. Of Hasaka: Abu Usama al Iraqi. Three ex Iraqi detainees and two ex Syrian detainees
A note about the OpSec of the Islamic State in 2012-2014: I followed all the news about Idlib in those years – especially when related to the Islamic State – it was (it is) a large and important area of operations and the name of Abu Yahya al Iraqi never came up
So, Baghdadi in 2011-2012 moved a lot of important people from Iraq to Northern Syria. Adnani and Haji Bakr as top commanders of Nusra, Abu Ali al Anbari as his delegate, Abu Ayman and Abu Yahya were both Iraqi guys . Syria wasn’t an “expansion”, was a new home for the group
The bio says Abu Yahya al Iraqi died in the same targeted airstrike that killed Umar al Shishani near Shirqat south of Mosul in July 2016. That passage wipes many past assumptions about him
US State Department designated Abu Yahya al Iraqi Special Designated Global Terrorist on August 17, 2017 – one year after his death in a US targeted airstrike. Cautionary tale about the known and the unknown in this field
state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/20…
state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/20…
Iraqi intelligence declared Abu Yahya al Iraqi dead after an airstrike in April 2017 near al Qaim. Not true – again
Another reminder that the matter is opaque and really we don’t know stuff: two paragraphs written in June 2017 in a report by Reuters, the “leading contenders” were already dead (one for sure at least) and the leader allegedly dead was very alive. Indeed mentions "skepticism"
An old list I stumbled upon in September 2017 already named Abu Yahya al Iraqi among the dead leaders
Bio doesn't confirm Abu Yahya al Iraqi was the leader of Amniyat – as per many sources – and just says he was “the military leader” in Syria. The death in the same airstrike with Shishani looks like a violation of elementary rule “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”
Post scriptum: the only other hypothesis explaining the discrepancies (US State dept, Iraqi intel late on the death) is the existence of two Abu Yahya al Iraqi, same age and same ranking
