#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.
