Leaders of jihadist groups

Osama bin Muhammad bin 'Awad bin Laden was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda from 1988 until his death in 2011. A pan-Islamist, bin Laden organized and funded numerous jihadist or anti-Western militants and terrorist attacks worldwide. Al-Qaeda's attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001 (9/11) directly killed 2,977 victims, causing the global war on terror.

al-Qaeda terrorist leader (1951–2022), Muslim jurist and theologian (Sunni), surgeon

Leader of the Islamic State (1971-2019)

Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander who has served as the president of Syria since 2025. He previously served as the emir of Al-Nusra Front from 2012 to 2017, the emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from 2017 to 2025, the de facto leader of the Syrian Salvation Government from 2017 to 2024, and was the de facto leader of Syria from December 2024 until his appointment as President in January 2025.

Jordanian jihadist (1966–2006)

Chechen warlord (1964-2013)

Iraqi Islamic State leader (1976–2022)

Saudi Arabian militant (1969-2002)

leader of a Nigerian militant group (1973-2021)

Afghan leader of the Haqqani network (1939–2018)

Islamist warlord

Egyptian al-Qaeda member (1967–2010)

First leader of the Islamic State of Iraq (1959–2010)

Pakistani Taliban Militant leader (1974-2009)

Caliph of the Islamic State since 2023

Emir in Pakistan

Iraqi Islamic State leader (died 2022)

leader of Al-Jama'a al-Islamiyya

militant Islamist leader (1970-2009)

Founder of PIJ (1958-2020)

Yemeni Zaidi religious leader (1959–2004)

Iranian terrorist

Pakistani convicted terrorist

Pakistani Taliban leader

Uzbekistani Islamist (1967–2009)

Indonesian Islamist

Leader of Harakat Al-Shabaab Mujahideen, Horner insurgent group (1977-2014)

Algerian al-Qaeda member (1972–2016)

Philippine Moro terrorist (1968–2017)

Malaysian terrorist (1968-2009)

Dagestani militant Islamist in Russia and the leader of the Caucasus Emirate

Yemeni al-Qaeda member

Malian Tuareg militant

Palestinian freedom fighter (1951-1995)

Ilyas Kashmiri was a Pakistani Special Forces Operator turned Islamist jihadist militant leader. and terrorist. He was a major insurgent in Jammu and Kashmir, and had fought against Indian troops there during several engagements. He was killed on 3 June 2011 in US drone attack on a compound in South Waziristan district.

Chechen militia leader (1979-2002)

Yemeni Al-Qaeda member

Terrorism, Leader Al-Qa'eda HOA Radical and Fundamental Wahabist

Pakistani radical Islamist and terrorist

Afghan minister

Algerian al-Qaeda member (1970–2020)

Afghan politician (1937–2002)

Kurdish Islamic activist

former leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's branch in West Africa (ISWAP)

Dagestani qadi (1976-2015)

Syrian rebel commander

Uzbekistani Islamist (1969-2001)

leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara

War Minister of the Islamic State of Iraq (died 2011)

Islamist from Egypt (1942-1978)

Turkish scholar of religious studies and writer (1950–2018)

Al-Shabaab leader

Chechen warlord (1973–2001)

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan leader

Indian politician

Ugandan militant

Egyptian Terrorist

Pakistani Taliban and ISIL member (1972–2016)

Abu Sayyaf leader (1975–2006)

Palestinian militant (1955-2008)