Who was ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?
- 5 years ago
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was considered the driving force behind Islamic State's rapid rise from a small offshoot of al-Qaeda to one of the most potent terrorist networks in history that ONCE ruled over territory the size of Great Britain.
Not many people had heard of ISIS or its leader in 2010 but over the years, ISIS brought misery and fear to millions, not only in the Middle East, but around the world.
Eum Ji-young has more.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was born in 1971 in the central Iraqi city of Samarra.
His religious Sunni Arab family is reportedly descended from the Prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, which pre-modern Sunni scholars regarded as being a key qualification for becoming a caliph.
After the U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003, Baghdadi allegedly participated in funding an Islamist insurgent group that aimed to attack American troops and their allies in Iraq.
Then in 2004, Baghdadi was taken by U.S. troops to the now-infamous Abu Ghraib prison complex, which later became known as a 'university' for the future leaders of ISIS as the inmates developed networks during their detention.
Upon his release, he's believed to have come into contact with al-Qaeda in Iraq and following the death of that group's leader in a U.S. air strike, the organization changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq.
When the Islamic State of Iraq's former leader was killed in a U.S. raid in 2010, al-Baghdadi was named his successor.
In 2013, the group announced its absorption of an al Qaeda-backed militant group in Syria and Baghdadi declared his group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, now more commonly known as ISIS.
In July 2014, he grabbed the world's attention with his first public appearance on camera as he claimed the pulpit of Mosul's medieval al-Nuri mosque during Friday prayers to announce the restoration of the caliphate.
Over the years, ISIS sleeper cells attacked and killed hundreds of people in dozens of cities including Paris, Nice, Orlando, Manchester, London and Berlin and in nearby Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
However, ISIS started to fall apart as the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. made the group's destruction one of its top foreign policy goals.
Even though Baghdadi is now dead, he remains as mysterious a figure in death as he was in life because even today experts say it's unclear to what degree he contribute to the rise and subsequent fall of ISIS.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.
Not many people had heard of ISIS or its leader in 2010 but over the years, ISIS brought misery and fear to millions, not only in the Middle East, but around the world.
Eum Ji-young has more.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was born in 1971 in the central Iraqi city of Samarra.
His religious Sunni Arab family is reportedly descended from the Prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, which pre-modern Sunni scholars regarded as being a key qualification for becoming a caliph.
After the U.S.-led invasion that overthrew Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003, Baghdadi allegedly participated in funding an Islamist insurgent group that aimed to attack American troops and their allies in Iraq.
Then in 2004, Baghdadi was taken by U.S. troops to the now-infamous Abu Ghraib prison complex, which later became known as a 'university' for the future leaders of ISIS as the inmates developed networks during their detention.
Upon his release, he's believed to have come into contact with al-Qaeda in Iraq and following the death of that group's leader in a U.S. air strike, the organization changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq.
When the Islamic State of Iraq's former leader was killed in a U.S. raid in 2010, al-Baghdadi was named his successor.
In 2013, the group announced its absorption of an al Qaeda-backed militant group in Syria and Baghdadi declared his group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, now more commonly known as ISIS.
In July 2014, he grabbed the world's attention with his first public appearance on camera as he claimed the pulpit of Mosul's medieval al-Nuri mosque during Friday prayers to announce the restoration of the caliphate.
Over the years, ISIS sleeper cells attacked and killed hundreds of people in dozens of cities including Paris, Nice, Orlando, Manchester, London and Berlin and in nearby Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
However, ISIS started to fall apart as the incoming Trump administration in the U.S. made the group's destruction one of its top foreign policy goals.
Even though Baghdadi is now dead, he remains as mysterious a figure in death as he was in life because even today experts say it's unclear to what degree he contribute to the rise and subsequent fall of ISIS.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.