Owen McKenna

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

Abu Anas al-Shami during a shari‘a course in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2000.

[Dilawar Karwan @RashmanTheHorse]

A narrative identifies Abu Sayf al Shami as the emir of Samarra before the Second Battle of Fallujah. This would explain his appearance in this film. Abu Anas and Abu Azzam were responsible for spreading JTJ to Samarra. Same passage also gives clues about jihadi routes from Jordan into Iraq.

The narrative comes from a collection of bios about Jordanian jihadists in Iraq. There's a lot of really good info here. One more mini project added to the queue.

As always my warm thanks to @Movlad15 for finding these deep cuts.

[Cemal @Movlad15]

I want to announce that I've created my first Substack article, a short piece that reveals JTJ's ambitious mission to storm Abu Ghraib prison through interesting testimonies

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@RashmanTheHorse HSM has a giraffe-hunting video from back in the day as well.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

I'm not aware of any other material on Abū Sayf, so if you know of any, feel free to let me know. Relative to his apparent importance, he seems to be an understudied leader in the movement's history.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

Who is this Abū Sayf al-Shāmī? He appears in a 2004 JTJ video release eulogizing Abū Anas al-Shāmī, and the only info we are given is that he is an amīr and was close to Abū Anas.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

His name also features in this picture from Abū Ḥamza al-Muhājir's bio, alongside the names of a number of JTJ leaders in Fallūja. Though the image does not in fact show what it claims to, this does suggest that Abū Sayf played quite a prominent role. https://t.co/kAVVNZ14om

[Cemal @Movlad15]

A little-known photo of the first battle of Fallujah
The people in the photo are JTJ leaders and commanders

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@RashmanTheHorse Always interesting to see outliers in the Iraq jihād mobilization rather than the hundreds from the Levant or KSA. Bosnia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Somalia all pop up. I also recall an al-Tshadī from AQAP who fled to Iraq in 2006.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@RashmanTheHorse Looking forward to seeing it.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@RashmanTheHorse Where’s this from?

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@wesleysmorgan Thanks Wesley!

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

The Sopranos' finale shows Agent Harris watching a video of Abu Yahya al-Libi. The video in question is al-Sahab's "Jihadist Poems".

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@RashmanTheHorse Very interesting. Could you send it to me?

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

@LongshotIbrahim @RashmanTheHorse @blindandsandy This leaked SIDToday document puts Baziyani's capture on May 30, 2004—caught using SIGINT. https://t.co/QwKd7z5CAB

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

An example of this in AQI is Ibn al-Jarrah al-Shami. He became close to Zarqawi after his mid-2005 release from prison, accompanying him wherever he went. After a number of promotions, al-Shami was made AQI's amir of Anbar and was a candidate to succeed Zarqawi after his death.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

🧵Currently writing something on Zarqawi's retinue in Iraq. One person that sticks out, whose importance seems to be understated in secondary literature, is an Iraqi named Bilal Mahmud 'Awad Sabah, known by his kunyah Abu 'Ubaydah al-Kubaysi.

[Owen McKenna @om_mckenna]

It is common for trusted aides such as al-Kubaysi to reach the upper echelon of these groups due to their proximity to leadership. After all, Nasir al-Wuhayshi, AQAP's amir, formerly served as Bin Ladin's personal secretary.