Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi

In October 2019, an article for the BBC claimed al-Suwaydawi was killed fighting on the front line in Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces rather than a US airstrike.

Adnan Latif Hamid al-Suwaydawi al-Dulaymi (Arabic: عدنان لطيف حامد السويداوي الدليمي, ‘Adnān Laṭīf Ḥāmid as-Suwaydāwī al-Dulaymī) (1965 – 8 November 2014), also known by his noms de guerre Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi, Abu Abdul Salem, and Haji Dawūd was a top commander in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the former head of its Military Council.

In November 2014, there were media reports that al-Iraqi had been killed in an Iraqi airstrike that reportedly also injured Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, however this was not confirmed at the time. In May 2015, ISIL carried out a wide-scale assault on Ramadi, capturing the city centre. The assault was named after al-Suwaydawi, who was described as having been killed in a US-led air strike. Jihadists frequently name their military offensives after fallen leaders. The Daily Beast reported that al-Suwaydawi was succeeded by senior ISIL figure Abu Ali al-Anbari.

An IS biography of Abu Muhannad al-Suwaydawi describes him as being "especially close to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi and says, "He and Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi were friends both in childhood and jihad". According to the biography, Abu Muhannad was present at both the First Battle of Fallujah and the Second Battle of Fallujah during the occupation of Iraq. He was also responsible for planning the 2013 Abu Ghraib prison break. In 2007, al-Suwaydawi was detained by U.S. forces in Iraq at Camp Bucca. Following the deaths of Haji Bakr and al-Bilawi in 2014, al-Suwaydawi reportedly succeeded them as head of ISIL's military council.