Abu Tahsin al-Salihi ( ar, أبو تحسين الصالحي; 1 July 1953 – 29 September 2017) was an Iraqi veteran sniper. A volunteer in the Iraqi

Popular Mobilization Forces The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) ( ar, الحشد الشعبي ''al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī''), also known as the People's Mobilization Committee (PMC) and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), is an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella organization ...

, he is credited with killing over 384

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

members during the

War in Iraq (2013–2017) The War in Iraq was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) which began in 2013 and ended in December 2017. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into full-scale guerrilla war ...

, receiving the nicknames "The Sheikh of Snipers" and "Hawk Eye." Before the

, al-Salihi fought in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

, the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

, the

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

, the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, and the

2003 US invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. According to al-Salihi, in the Yom Kippur War he was part of an Iraqi brigade fighting on

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. Around May 2015 al-Salihi joined the Popular Mobilization Forces and was stationed in the Makhoul Mountains in northern Iraq, armed with a Steyr anti materiel rifle. Al-Salihi began fighting ISIS in Jurf Al Nasr. He was trained in his sniper skills by the

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

Early life

Abu Tahsin al-Salihi was born Ali Jiyad Obaid al-Salihi ( ar, علي جياد عبيد الصالحي) and was known by his nom de guerre ''The Hawk Eye'' or

teknonym Teknonymy (from grc-gre, τέκνον, "child" and grc-gre, ὄνομα, label=none, "name"), is the practice of referring to parents by the names of their children. This practice can be found in many different cultures around the world. The term ...

''Abu Tahsin''. He was born in 1953, had eleven children, five girls and six boys. He was a

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

. He traveled to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in the 1970s and worked many jobs there, two of which were being a shepherd of cows and camels. He had a French rifle to protect himself and with which he hunted rabbits, from this he gained knowledge in hunting and shooting.

Military career

Months before the Ramadan War in the 1970s, he was nominated to travel to

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

to train in a course and took second place. The first war he fought in was the Ramadan War in 1973, where he was stationed in the

in the 5th mountainous brigade. The second war he fought in was the Second Kurdish–Iraqi War in 1974. From the start of the uprising until 2014, he joined the Sadr brigade where he participated in the liberation of many provinces in Iraq, but he didn't fit well in this brigade, so he joined Liwa Ali Al Akbar and this is where his skills began to show. He had 384 confirmed kills.

Death

According to the Popular Mobilization Forces spokesman, al-Salihi was killed as he advanced on

Hawija Hawija () is the central town of Al-Hawija District in the Kirkuk Province of Iraq, west of Kirkuk, and north of Baghdad. The town has a population of about 100,000 inhabitants. Hawija District has approximately 150,000 inhabitants, mostly pop ...

in Iraq. His funeral took place on 30 September 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salhi, Abu Tahsin al- 1953 births 2017 deaths Iraqi military personnel killed in action Iraqi military personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Iraqi Shia Muslims Members of the Popular Mobilization Forces Military snipers Military personnel of the Gulf War Military personnel of the Iraq War People of the Yom Kippur War People of the War in Iraq (2013–2017)

Early life

Military career

Death

See also

References