Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was an Iraqi militant who led the Islamic State from 2010 until his death in 2019.
Samarra: An Iraqi city on the Tigris River, north of Baghdad. Al-Baghdadi was born in Samarra in 1971.
Islamic State: A jihadist militant organization that controlled territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in 2014. Al-Baghdadi led the organization during its territorial expansion and self-proclaimed caliphate.
Sinjar massacre: The Islamic State's 2014 attack on the Yazidi community in Iraq, involving mass killings, abductions, and displacement. The massacre occurred during al-Baghdadi's leadership and became central to charges of genocide against the group.
Ayman al-Zawahiri: An Egyptian militant who led al-Qaeda from 2011 until his death in 2022. Al-Zawahiri's al-Qaeda rejected al-Baghdadi's unilateral expansion and claim to leadership.
Camp Bucca: A United States military detention facility in southern Iraq, operated from 2003 to 2009. He was detained there, where future Islamic State militants also gathered.
Caliphate: A form of Islamic political rule led by a caliph, understood as a successor to Muhammad's political leadership. His 2014 declaration presented the Islamic State as a restored caliphate.
Yazidi genocide: The Islamic State's campaign to destroy the Yazidi community through killings, enslavement, forced conversion, and displacement. The campaign was carried out while al-Baghdadi commanded the Islamic State.
Al-Qaeda: A transnational jihadist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s. The Islamic State broke with al-Qaeda over authority, strategy, and territorial control.
Iraq War: The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ensuing conflict involving occupation, insurgency, and sectarian violence. The invasion and its aftermath created the conditions in which his militant career advanced.
Abu Muhammad al-Adnani: A senior Islamic State spokesman and strategist who was killed in Syria in 2016. Al-Adnani announced al-Baghdadi's appointment as caliph and shaped the group's public messaging.