
Amir Khalaf Fanus (died 20 January 2005) was an enforcer for al-Qaeda in Iraq under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was known for using a drill as his weapon of choice, and he was known to be brutal; he used a drill to execute the son of Sheikh al-Obodi in public before having al-Obodi gunned down. He was nicknamed "The Butcher" for his brutality and for his profession, and he was killed by US sniper Chris Kyle in 2005.
Biography[]
Amir Khalaf Fanus was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Iraq, and he worked as a butcher in Nasiriyah. He worked as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's enforcer in al-Qaeda in Iraq, with his weapon-of-choice being a drill; he used amputations as a way to instill fear in his enemies. There was no real name known to the United States, and he was nicknamed "The Butcher"; only local Iraqis knew his name. In 2003, during a patrol by the US Marine Corps in Nasiriyah, The Butcher brought out Sheikh al-Obodi's son in public, and he used a drill to kill him before his men gunnedthe Sheikh as he tried to stop his son's death. The son's death was carried out in public, and he showed off his cruelty to the American soldiers before he left the city in a Toyota pickup truck with his men. He issued a $180,000 bounty on the sniper Chris Kyle due to his infamy, and he became known as the "Devil of Ramadi" due to his fame as an insurgent-killer. Kyle was given a special operations squad to take out "The Butcher", and on his second tour of duty he found a weapons cache hidden by an Iraqi man in the floor of his restaurant while celebrating Eid ul-Adha on 20 January 2005. They had the captured restaurant owner lead them to Fanus and his men, and a firefight broke out with the insurgents. The Americans fought against the Iraqi insurgents that night, and they killed several of the terrorists. Fanus tried to flee in a truck, and he fired at the Americans as he tried to flee. Kyle shot the fuel tank on his car as he tried to drive away, blowing up the car and killing Fanus.