Muhammad Ahmad ’Ali al-Isawi, known as Abu Osama al-Masri ( ar, أبو أسامة المصري) (1972/1973-June 2018) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

and leader of the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

branch in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

, known as Wilayat Sinai.

History

Abu Osama is believed to have been born in North Sinai and grew up in Sharqiya in the Nile Delta. His kunya means 'father of Osama, the Egyptian'. He was said to be 42 years old as of November 2015, making his birth year 1972 or 1973. He is reported to have been a clothing importer who studied at al-Azhar University, a top Sunni institution in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. In October 2014, he was believed to have traveled to Syria with about 20 followers when security forces clamped down on militants after former

Egyptian President The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egy ...

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitu ...

. Abu Osama was a member of

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM; ar, أَنْصَارُ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِس, Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis, lit=Supporters of the Holy House), or Ansar Al-Quds (), was a jihadist, extremist militant group based in Egypt. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis ...

, the previous name of the Islamic State's Sinai branch.

Islamic State in Sinai

For much of his time in the group he served as head media spokesman. In May 2015 a recording surfaced where Abu Osama called for attacks against Egyptian judges, saying: "It is wrong for the tyrants udgesto jail our brothers. Poison their food... surveil them at home and in the street... destroy their homes with explosives if you can." In November 2015, he became a person of interest in the downing of

Metrojet Flight 9268 Metrojet Flight 9268 was an international chartered passenger flight, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia (branded as Metrojet). On 31 October 2015, at 06:13 local time EST (04:13 UTC), an Airbus A321-231 operating the flight exploded ...

. He claimed responsibility, saying “We are the ones who downed it etrojet Flight 9268by the grace of Allah, and we are not compelled to announce the method that brought it down.” He became leader of Wilayah Sinai in August 2016. An Islamic State - Sinai Province video titled "The Path of Rationality From Darkness to Light" claimed he was killed in June 2018 during an airstrike at an Islamic State location.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masri, Abu Osama al- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members from Egypt Sinai insurgency Al-Azhar University alumni Leaders of Islamic terror groups Salafi jihadists 1973 births 2018 deaths Egyptian Islamists People from North Sinai Governorate