Saudi Arabian Tirad Mohammad al-Jarba, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Shimali, was the shadowy leader of the Immigration and Logistics Committee since at least 2005. Ten years later the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned al-Shimali for his role as the “border and logistics official” responsible for facilitating travel from Turkey and Syria for IS fighters from Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. Treasury also explained that he was responsible for processing new Islamic State fighters in Azaz, Syria.

Even though al-Shimali was already designated as a global terrorist by Treasury in September 2015, his suspected role in the November 2015 Paris attacks led to a more urgent search attempt with a $5 million reward for justice offer. In announcing this reward, the U.S. Department of State explained that al-Shimali and the Immigration and Logistics Committee were responsible for moving people, money, and supplies intro Syria and Iraq from Europe, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. The Rewards for Justice announcement also noted that under al-Shimali’s stewardship the Immigration and Logistics Committee facilitated the movement of 25,000 foreign fighters traveling to Iraq and Syria from over one-hundred countries.

In 2017, Russia claimed al-Shimali was killed in an airstrike in Deir Az Zor, Syria, along with forty other Islamic State militants. Despite al-Shimali’s possible death, the Immigration and Logistics Committee persists. According to a U.S. government press release, two Committee members were targeted in a coalition airstrike but other members have likely taken their places.

Moving People

The depth of scholarly work and reporting surrounding the Islamic State’s movement of people, finances, and equipment is deep. Yet there is a dearth of deep research on the Immigration and Logistics Committee. Part of this may stem from the various naming conventions used. The UN refers to the Islamic State’s logistics organization as the “Immigration and Logistics Coordination Offices,” while Treasury refers to al-Shimali as the “senior Syria-Turkey border and logistics official.” Despite the differences in nomenclature, the available information through Islamic State propaganda, primary source documents, media reports, and supporter accounts provide important glimpses into the Committee’s internal workings.

The Immigration and Logistics Committee under al-Shimali’s leadership focused on the movement of prospective fighters from Australia, Europe, and the Middle East to parts of Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State made an effort to disguise the movement as Hijrah and create a narrative for travelers that could be traced to the Prophet Mohammad’s own migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE to escape persecution. The jihadi highway is a well-known corridor on the porous border between Syria and Turkey through which an estimated twenty-five to forty percent of Islamic State total foreign fighters passed. Of the nineteen known crossings, the majority (around 2,930) passed through three Syrian points at Tal Abyad, Jarablus, or Azaz. An analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy stated, “The corridor is crucial to [the Islamic State’s] survival. It’s the main conduit of what was once a large smuggling area for [the Islamic State] to get fighters in and out, weapons in, funding in, oil and antiquities out. If [the Islamic State] loses that corridor it will basically be stifled.” An English language source document entitled “Hijrah to the Islamic State” provides detailed information to supporters on how to travel to the caliphate.

Sources also indicate that al-Shimali reportedly processed foreign recruits into Syria via Gaziantep, Turkey before returning them to Europe for terrorist actions such as the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people. Al-Shimali likely helped six of the Paris attackers travel to Syria for training before returning to Paris to carry out the attacks.