Abdul Mohsen al-Zaghilani al-Taresh (1980-26 December 2016), also known by his nom de guerre of Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti, was a Kuwaiti Islamic State commander who served as IS' second-in-command in Syria during the Syrian Civil War.
Biography[]
Abdul Mohsen al-Zaghilani al-Taresh was born in al-Jahra, Kuwait in 1980, and he was radicalized by a jihadist ideology. He decided to head to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria during the Syrian Civil War, and he recruited foreign fighters into ISIS through social media. Taking on the name of "Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti" after having a son with an Iraqi female jihadist, Abu Jandal became a celebrity in al-Jahra for his execution and propaganda videos, and he was popular among IS fighters for his "modesty". In July 2014, he became a top commander of the 6,000-strong Army of Hasakah Governorate, and he joined ISIS' War Committee in 2015, becoming involved with bomb production and with planning terrorist attacks. On 26 December 2016, during the fighting against the Syrian Democratic Forces for control of Jabar in Raqqa Governorate, Abu Jandal was killed when the US Air Force bombed his convoy.