#20 Omar al-Shishani (aka “Omar the Chechen”)
Of all the ISIS leaders killed in action, he is perhaps the most well known. He was widely considered to be the terror group’s minister of war. Al-Shishani was killed as a result of an American airstrike in March 2016, near the Syrian border city of Shadadi. He survived the initial strike but later died of his wounds. It’s widely thought that al-Shishani is referred to as “the Chechen” because of his physical appearance, though he is in fact from Georgia.
Shishani also headed the terror group’s main prison in Raqqa, Syria. The U.S. State Department once offered $5 million for information leading to the capture of Shishani. Shishani was also called “Abu Meat” by detractors because he had a reputation of staying in the rear with the gear while ordering others into battle.
#19 Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli (aka “Hajji Imam”)
In a March effort to capture this senior IS commander, U.S. special operators initially planned to disable his vehicle from the air, land a helicopter, and then take him into custody. Instead, with a judicious use of armament, they opened up on the vehicle, killing al-Qaduli. He was the group’s top financier and thus a significant kill. Separating themselves from the pack, ISIS accumulated more money in 2014 and the years that followed than any other extremist group. Additionally, because they captured land, they were able to leverage both black market oil sales and the taxation of civilians to fund their operations.
#18 Fathi Benn Awn Ben Jildi Murad al-Tunisi (aka “Abu Sayyaf”)
Sending only the best after this guy, British SAS and American Delta Force elements raided the house of Abu Sayyaf, ISIS’ chief oil minister and a high-ranking commander in Deir-ez-Zor, Syria. Abu Sayyaf was shot twice in the chest as he went for a weapon. His wife said she was only a sex slave. (Sayyaf and his wife ran ISIS’ sex slave network.) His actual Yazidi sex slave was freed by the operators. His wife was captured.
#17 Tariq al-Harzi
Also known as the “Emir of Suicide Bombers” he was killed in June 2015 by coalition airstrikes in Syria. He was a logistics expert for ISIS, managing the movement of personnel and materiel between Iraq and Syria and also supported recruiting efforts for ISIS operations in North Africa.
#16 Junaid Hussein
A British citizen, Hussein was the critical operative in the Garland, Texas cartoon contest attack in 2015 and an effective ISIS recruiter. He was killed in Raqqa, Syria by a coalition airstrike. He was hit by a missile fired from a drone high overhead. Hussein was central to the plot of attacking the homes of U.S. service members after ISIS hackers posted their home addresses.
#15 Abu Muhammad Adnani
Abu Muhammad Adnani, whose death was announced by the extremist group, was a chief architect of its war against the West. He exhorted European-born fighters to commit attacks on the home ground rather than joining the fight in Syria and Iraq and pointed the way for those with no ties to the group to embrace “martyrdom” on its behalf.
Adnani was killed while overseeing Islamic State field operations in northern Syria.
#14 Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour
We apologize for the quality of the picture, but as you can imagine there are not many of this reclusive and rather hideous leader. He was more of a ‘face for radio’ kind of guy.
Mansour was killed in a drone strike while serving as a figurehead for the Taliban. U.S. officials said his death delivered a decisive blow to the resurgent militant group that has launched high-profile attacks across Afghanistan in a bid to topple the country’s floundering government.
The airstrike, authorized by President Obama, hit Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour with missiles launched from drones overhead as he traveled in a vehicle. He was with another man along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, southwest of the remote town of Ahmad Wal in western Pakistan when the attack occurred.
