Muhsin al-Fadhli

Muhsin al-Fadhli (Arabic: محسن الفضلي‎) (24 April 1981 – 8 July 2015)[5] was an alleged senior leader of Khorasan, an offshoot of the al-Nusra Front, a branch of al-Qaeda.[6][7][2]

Muhsin al-Fadhli
Photo of Muhsin al-Fadhli, according
to the U.S. State Department.
Born(1981-04-24)24 April 1981[1]
Kuwait
Died8 July 2015(2015-07-08) (aged 34)
Sarmada, Syria
Allegiance al-Qaeda
Service/branch al-Nusra Front
  • Khorasan
Years of serviceUnknown–2015
RankLeader of Khorasan's external operations[2]
Battles/warsWar in Afghanistan[3]
Syrian Civil War[4]
Military intervention against ISIL
  • American-led intervention in Syria

Militant activity

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, al-Fadhli fought with the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as the second-in-command to an unnamed al-Qaeda leader. In Chechnya, Al-Fadhli fought against Russian forces and received military training.[8] According to media reports, al-Fadhli was a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, and one of a few people to be informed of the September 11 attacks, before they were launched.[6] He was born in Kuwait and used the aliases Abu Majid Samiyah, Abu Samia, Dawud al-Asadi, Muhsin Fadhil Ayyid al-Fadhli and Muhsin Fadil Ayid Ashur al-Fadhli.[1]

By 2002, al-Fadhli was raising funds for the attack on the French Maritime Jewel ship that was carried out later that year off the coast of Yemen.[8][9] Al-Fadhli was also suspected of being connected to the October 2002 attack on U.S. Marines on the Kuwaiti island of Faylaka.[8][10] In February 2003, al-Fadhli was convicted by a Kuwaiti court for financial support for terrorist activities and participating in military training in Afghanistan in order to carry out terrorist attacks. The Kuwaiti court issued a five-year jail sentence to al-Fadhi and the other three convicted terrorists.[11]

In the U.S. Department of Treasury’s 2005 designation of al-Fadhli, he is mentioned as “a major facilitator connected to the brutal terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi” who assisted fighters attacking U.S. and multinational forces.[8] The Saudi Ministry of Interior listed al-Fadhli as a suspected terrorist in 2005 and the United Nations added al-Fadhli to its Al-Qaida Sanctions List in 2011.[12]

In 2012, the United States State Department identified al-Fadhli as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iran and issued a $7 million reward for his capture.[1] According to the Treasury’s announcement, al-Fadhli started working with al-Qaeda in Iran in 2009. Al-Fadhli was subsequently arrested by Iranian authorities, but was released in 2011 after which he replaced Yasin al-Suri as the leader of al-Qaeda’s Iran-based facilitation network.[13] The Iran-based al-Qaeda web worked to finance terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan and transport its fighters to al-Qaeda’s affiliates in Syria through Turkey. According to the U.S. Treasury, al-Fadhli used his network of Kuwaiti terrorist donors to send money to Syria. Al-Fadhli also received “thousands of dollars” from Abd al-Malik Muhammad Yusuf Uthman Abd al Salam, a Qatari ID holder and designated al-Qaeda and Al Nusra Front facilitator.[14][15]

In mid-2013, al-Fadhli was sent to Syria on behalf of al-Qaeda emir, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in order to mediate disputes between al-Qaeda's then Iraqi branch, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front. In February 2014, al-Fadhli was instrumental in influencing al-Qaeda to disassociate itself from ISIL.[16]

Death

Al-Fadhli was killed on 8 July 2015, when the United States carried out an airstrike, targeting a vehicle near the town of Sarmada in northwest Syria, according to the Pentagon.[5]

gollark: Then I hooked it up to the actual mana-generation flowers and TNT-placement dispenser, and added some mana storage and a computer controller.
gollark: Most of it is a mana generator. For that, I looked at ways to make mana, then how to make the fuel each of them needed, and how I could make *that*, found one which seemed easiest, and then built small subunits for making each thing and connected them up.
gollark: What whole thing, the bunker or redstone generator?
gollark: It's already energy-shielded and reasonably blast-proof, but teleportation is a thing, so I'm thinking about putting some internal defenses.
gollark: I'm currently working on (in creative mode) this bunker thing, which will eventually (I hope) be able to produce all its components from scratch.

References
  1. "Rewards for Justice - al-Qaida Reward Offers". U.S. State Department. 18 October 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  2. "French bomb-maker with Khorasan radicalized over 'several years'". Foreign Policy. 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2015.(subscription required)
  3. "QI.A.184.05. Muhsin Fadhil Ayed Ashour Al-Fadhli". UN Security Council Committee. 24 January 2011. Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  4. "Who is Muhsin Al-Fadhli? Khorasan Group leader believed dead in Syria airstrike". International Business Times. 24 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  5. "Key al-Qaeda figure Muhsin al-Fadhli killed in U.S. airstrike in Syria - Pentagon". BNO News. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  6. "U.S. Suspects More Direct Threats Beyond ISIS". New York Times. 20 September 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  7. "Al-Qaida Reasserts Itself With Khorasan Group". NPR. 3 October 2014. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  8. "Treasury Takes Action to Stem Funding to the Iraqi Insurgency". www.treasury.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  9. Savage, Charlie (2014-02-20). "Guantánamo Detainee Pleads Guilty in 2002 Attack on Tanker Off Yemen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  10. Schmitt, Eric (2002-10-09). "THREATS AND RESPONSES: SKIRMISH; U.S. Marine Is Killed in Kuwait As Gunmen Strike Training Site". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  11. "MUHSIN FADHIL AYED ASHOUR AL-FADHLI | United Nations Security Council Subsidiary Organs". www.un.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  12. "Saudi Interior Ministry Announces Names of Suspected Terrorists". Saudi Ministry of the Interior. 2005-06-28. Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2020-08-07. The Ministry of Interior today issued a new list of wanted terrorist suspects, calling on them to surrender or face justice and calling on the public to provide information that will lead to their arrest.
  13. "Treasury Further Exposes Iran-Based Al-Qa'ida Network". www.treasury.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-06-03. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  14. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2017-02-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "Treasury Designates Twelve Foreign Terrorist Fighter Facilitators". www.treasury.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-12-13. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  16. "Report: Former head of al Qaeda's network in Iran now operates in Syria". Long War Journal. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
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