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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Arabic: أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ’Abū Muṣ‘ab az-Zarqāwī, Father of Musab, from Zarqa; English pronunciation ⓘ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (أَحْمَدُ فَضِيلِ ٱلنَّزَالِ ٱلْخَلَايْلَةَ ...
- 1989–2006
Learn about the life and legacy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISIS's predecessor, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the leader of other terrorist groups. Find out his biography, associated groups, designations, and rhetoric.
- Who Was Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi?
- How Did Zarqawi Die?
- Where Does The Myth of Zarqawi Begin and End?
- What Terrorist Acts Are Linked to Zarqawi?
- What Is Zarqawi’s Affiliation with Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda?
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Jordanian by birth, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi transformed himself into a nationless freelance terrorist. Tactically, geographically, and to some extent philosophically, he established a pattern of inconsistency. His flexibility made him all the more fearsome—and all the more difficult to pin down. Despite a bounty of $25 million on his head and vastly i...
On June 7, 2006, U.S. forces in Iraq launched an air strike on a safe house some fifty-five miles north of Baghdad, where Zarqawi was hiding. The attack was the product of a prolonged intelligence effort to track down the terrorist leader, and was reportedly helped along by a tip from Jordan’s intelligence service that Zarqawi planned to hold a mee...
In 2003, Colin Powell told the UN Security Council that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was, in his very person, the link between Iraq’s Baathist regime and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. Zarqawi’s dealings, Powell said, proved that Iraq harbored a terrorist network, and mandated preemptive military action against the country. This assertion was later di...
m-The most famous attacks connected to Zarqawi are the Amman, Jordan suicide bombings of November 9, 2005, and the Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004. He has also claimed credit for the April 24, 2004, suicide attack on the Iraqi port city of Basra, multiple attacks on Shiite worshippers and Shiite mosques in Iraq, and the videotaped and widel...
Part of what makes Zarqawi’s influence so hard to classify is the broad uncertainty about which groups he helped build. He was often referred to as al-Qaeda’s lead operator in Iraq, though just how much contact he had with either Osama bin Laden or other al-Qaeda higher-ups is far from clear. Experts say Zarqawi and bin Laden most likely met in Kan...
Learn about the life and actions of the terrorist leader who coordinated attacks in Jordan, Iraq, and Spain, and was killed by U.S. forces in 2006. Find out how he became a freelance jihadist, his relationship with al-Qaeda, and his views on Shiites and Jews.
- Lee Hudson Teslik
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Once one of the most wanted men in the world, for whose arrest the United States offered a $25 million reward, al-Zarqawi was a notoriously enigmatic figure—a man who was everywhere yet nowhere.
Nada Bakos, a former CIA analyst, reveals how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISIS, went from a petty criminal to a jihadist leader. She explains why the U.S. missed a chance to stop him in 2002 and how he fueled sectarian violence in Iraq.
- Jason M. Breslow
Learn about the life and legacy of Zarqawi, the Jordanian jihadist who became the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the precursor of ISIS. Discover how he rose from a gangster to a terrorist mastermind, and how he was killed by U.S. forces in 2006.
Jun 8, 2006 · BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 8 — Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in an American airstrike on an isolated safe house north of Baghdad at 6:15 p.m. local time on...
