U.S. doubles bounty on ISIS leader to $10 million
- The United States is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of the ISIS leader.
- Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla ascended to the top spot within the terror organization following the October 2019 death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday that the United States has doubled the bounty for the new ISIS leader to $10 million.
The leader of the ISIS terror organization, Amir Muhammad Sa'id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, also known as Hajji Abdallah, ascended to the top spot within the terror organization following the October 2019 death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a U.S. military operation.
Al-Mawla was previously a senior member in ISIS' predecessor organization, al-Qa'ida in Iraq, before joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
"As one of ISIS's most senior ideologues, al-Mawla helped drive and justify the abduction, slaughter, and trafficking of the Yazidi religious minority in northwest Iraq and also led some of the group's global terrorist operations," the State Department said in a release.
"This reward is an important moment in our fight against ISIS and its branches and networks around the world. As ISIS is defeated on the battlefield, we are determined to identify and find the group's leaders so that the global coalition of nations fighting to defeat ISIS can continue to destroy ISIS remnants and thwart its global ambitions."
President Donald Trump has previously said he is considering withdrawing U.S. troops from war-torn Syria, signaling an early exit to the U.S.-led fight against ISIS.
In December 2018, Trump, in a surprise announcement, declared victory over ISIS and formally ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria. A day later, then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis handed in his resignation to Trump.