Cairo: The leader of Daesh, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, has been so badly wounded by a US air strike in Iraq that he may never resume control of the group he masterminded to power.
According to reports, Al Baghdadi has been incapacitated since March 18 due to spinal damage, suffered when an air strike hit a three-car convoy in which he was travelling through the Al Baaj district of Nineveh, close to the Syrian border.
The enigmatic leader is being treated by two ideologically sympathetic doctors who travel to his hideout from the group’s stronghold in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
His location remains a closely guarded secret. Al Baghdadi’s wounds were said to be life-threatening initially, prompting urgent meetings among the leadership in order to name his successor.
Operational control of Daesh has reportedly been passed to Abu Ala’a Al Afri, a physics professor and longtime senior official, who had been appointed deputy leader when his predecessor was killed by another air strike late last year.
Also known as Haji Iman, Al Afri taught in the northwestern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, and has reportedly built solid respect among Daesh’s senior leadership. Al Afri is thought to have acted as the link between Al Baghdadi, his inner circle, and Daesh’s network of emirs across their self-proclaimed caliphate, spanning large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Hesham Al Hashimi, senior adviser on Daesh to the Iraqi government described Al Afri as the “strongest man in [Daesh] after Al Baghdadi”.
“The injury of Baghdadi hasn’t affected operations yet, but [his replacement] could see the beginning of disputes between Daesh’s foreign fighters and its Iraqis,” Al Hashimi said.
Al Baghdadi has been a towering figure in the rise of Daesh, and its Al Qaida affiliated predecessor. “Their big strategic moves have all been masterminded by Al Baghdadi, even if others have helped with the specifics,” said Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi, a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Al Afri is understood to be more open to the prospect of reconciliation between Daesh and Al Nusra Front, a rival Al Qaida affiliated group in Syria which has led rebel forces to impressive gains in recent months.
The last known communique bearing Al Baghdadi’s name came last week, calling on terrorists to send reinforcements to the Iraqi provinces of Al Anbar and Salah Al Deen.
