A top Islamic State commander named Haji Imam was killed during an operation earlier this month, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. The official said that Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter and Gen. Joseph Dunford would make the announcement during a press briefing Friday morning.
U.S. officials said that Imam has held a series of high-level roles in the Islamic State, and is part of a leadership core that traces back to the organization’s emergence as an al-Qaeda affiliate after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Imam is a “long time member, someone who forms connective tissue to the al-Qaeda in Iraq days,” a U.S. official said, adding that he was “closely associated and tied to Zarqawi.” Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian operative known for his brutal tactics, was head of the al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq until he was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.
U.S. officials stopped short of describing Imam as No. 2 in the organization, saying that he held an array of important positions, but remained largely behind the scenes. He did not have high public profile of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, who functions as the group’s spokesman.
Imam was a holdover from the Islamic State’s earlier iteration of al-Qaeda in Iraq and served under Zarqawi before joining the Islamic State, according tothe Treasury Department, which includes him on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. His full name is Abd Al-Rahman Mustafa Al-Qaduli, according to Treasury.
The Justice Department listed a reward of up to $7 million for information on Imam. In its release, Justice said Imam had “reintegrated himself” into the Islamic State after his release from prison in early 2012. The release said he joined al-Qaeda in 2004 under the command of Zarqawi and served as his deputy. He was also the leader of Mosul for al-Qaeda in Iraq, according to the Justice Department. He was born in either 1957 or 1959, said the release.
Earlier this month, the Islamic State’s “emir of war” Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, was killed after a U.S. airstrike in northeastern Syria.
