Ümit Yaşar Toprak (1967-23 September 2014), also known as Abu Yusuf al-Turki, was a leader of the Al-Nusra Front during the Syrian Civil War who was responsible for training snipers. An operative of al-Qaeda, he was killed in an airstrike on 23 September 2014.
Biography[]
Ümit Yaşar Toprak was born in Bursa, Turkey, in 1967 and had five children. He served as a rebel leader in the Iraq War in the mid-2000s, gaining combat experience with other jihadists. During the Syrian Civil War, he left his family to fight for the Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group that represented the terror group al-Qaeda in Syria. Toprak took on the nickname of Abu Yousef al-Turki, and he became one of the most renowned snipers in the Middle East. He was responsible for training others in his trade, and he became a dangerous man.
On 23 September 2014, the United States launched a series of airstrikes against the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State alongside other members of the anti-ISIS coalition, and al-Turki was killed in Idlib Governorate.