Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader and former teacher who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed himself caliph in 2014 and stayed in power until his suicide in an American operation in 2019.

Baghdadi was born in Samarra and obtained graduate degrees in Islamic theology in the late 1990s and 2000s. According to supporters, he obtained a PhD at the Islamic University of Baghdad. Following the American invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Baghdadi led the "Jama'at Jaysh Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jama'ah" insurgent group in Iraq and was detained with al-Qaeda commanders at the American Camp Bucca in 2004. His group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) coalition in 2006 and fought alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq. Upon the dissolution of the MSC in October 2006, Baghdadi became a leading member of the newly established Islamic State of Iraq organization, and rose through the group's ranks until he was appointed its emir, the highest leader, in 2010. In March 2013, the group renamed itself as the "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" (ISIL), announcing its intention to expand into Syria and forcibly assimilate the Al-Nusra Front, leading to a conflict with al-Qaeda's general command. In June 2014, the group once again re-designated itself as the "Islamic State", and declared itself to be a caliphate. Baghdadi was chosen caliph of the Islamic State by a "Shura Council", which represented those members of the Islamic State allegedly qualified to elect a caliph.