One of the founders of the organization and responsible for pledging the Yazidim: This is the new ISIS leader

According to the Guardian, Amir Muhammad al-Salabi is the successor to al-Baghdadi. The head of the new organization, a Turkmen family member and one of the few non-Arab ISIS, was appointed hours after the leader's assassination in October. As a degree in Sharia law from the University of Mosul, he signed the rulings behind the Yazidi genocide attempt

One of the founders of the organization and responsible for pledging the Yazidim: This is the new ISIS leader

The new leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) is Amir Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mawali a-Selby - the Guardian reported on Monday, according to sources from two foreign intelligence agencies. A-Selby is one of the founders of the organization and responsible for the lien of the Yazidim.

According to sources, he was appointed to the post hours after the assassination of former organization leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last October, during a special operation by US special forces. The name given by ISIS to the successor of al-Baghdadi - Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi - was merely his nickname, and was not recognized by other senior officials or intelligence services.

In the three months since El-Baghdadi's assassination, spies from the region and from the West have been able to put together a more cohesive profile of the new ISIS leader, veteran of the organization and a devout ideologue, similar to his predecessor in the post.

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A devout ideologue. The new ISIS leader

ISIS's new leader (Photo: official website)

A-Selby is considered one of the most influential ideologues on the ranks of the organization. Born in Iraq to a Turkmen family, in the city of Tel Aviv, he is one of the few non-Arab members of the organization. He is also known as Haji Abdullah and, in some circles, Abdullah Kardash - although Iraqi officials claimed that the latter was a different figure in ISIS, who died two years ago.

A-Selby, as he is known by intelligence sources, has gone up the ranks with his background as an Islamic scholar, and his rulings are behind the Yazidi genocide attempt. A-Selby holds a degree in Sharia Law from the University of Mosul. In 2004, he was arrested by United States forces in southern Iraq, where he met with al-Baghdadi. He is believed to have at least one son.

Fear of traitors and disguised as a shepherd: the last days of al-Baghdadi

A-Selby was appointed to replace him in August. Al-Baghdadi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader, April 29, 2019 (Photo: Image processing)

Prior to the assassination of Al-Baghdadi by the United States Army in an attack in northwestern Syria on October 27, the US State Department placed a $ 5 million prize on al-Salabi's head and two other senior members of the organization. A-Selby was posted as a potential leader for Al-Baghdadi's replacement in August, but approval of his appointment lasted several months.

Since then, he has tried to consolidate the new ISIS leadership, which almost entirely - apart from al-Selby himself - comes from the new generation of the organization. The members of this generation were too young to play a role in ISIS battles against the US military in 2004, or in the civil war in Iraq that followed.

ISIS has yet to recover the devastating momentum it had become a significant threat to the regional order, after al-Baghdadi declared himself an Islamic World Caliph in mid-2014. In Syria in March of last year.

The organization continues to rise

Kurdish forces in northern Iraq warned last month of an increase in attacks in central and northern Israel. ISIS carried out 106 attacks between December 20 and 26, in order to avenge the death of al-Baghdadi and the person responsible for the propaganda in the organization, Abu Hassan al-Mujahir, who were both liquidated on the same day.

A Kurdish Iraqi official said: "We have seen a significant increase in ISIS attacks since the middle of last year, whose center of gravity is now moving south. We now see an average of about 60 attacks a month that include assassinations, roadside bombs and attack by Iraqi security forces." He explained that "ISIS people in Iraq still receive a monthly salary and training in remote mountainous areas," which allows the organization to continue to stand - even when it is militarily defeated.

Tunnel found at ISIS training facility near Mosul, Iraq, 2017 (Photo: Reuters)

Tunnel found at ISIS training facility near Mosul Iraq, March 6, 2017 (Photo: Reuters)

The hunt for al-Libi reached Turkey, where his brother, Adal Selby, serves as a representative of a political party called the "Turkish Iraqi Front." It is believed that ISIS's new leader continued to maintain ties with his brother until he was eight.

Intelligence officials have few insights into al-Salabi's whereabouts, but it is estimated he followed Al-Baghdadi to Idlib province, and probably preferred to leave in towns west of Mosul. The city, which was a haven for those left over from its longtime leadership and organization, is trying to rebuild itself after five years of war.

Along the border with Syria, officials are still struggling to contain what Britain, France and other European countries see as the biggest threat left by ISIS - two major detention centers designed to house members of the organization and their families who have fled. The camps, ruled by the Kurdish forces, remained as hothouses of extremists and parts of them remained outside the purview of the security forces. The question of what to do with ISIS's foreign prisoners in Syria, which number about 2,000, is troubling Europeans who are worried about their mass escape or the possible consequences of returning its citizens to their countries after joining ISIS.