ISIS leaders have $20million bounty placed on their heads by US government's 'Rewards for Justice' program

  • Four ISIS commanders accused of overseeing mass executions and rape
  • U.S. State Department offering bounties from $3m to $7m for each leader
  • Move comes days after ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Texas

By Simon Tomlinson for MailOnline

Published: 05:42 EST, 6 May 2015 | Updated: 06:53 EST, 6 May 2015

Bounties totalling $20million (£13m) have been placed on the heads of four Islamic State leaders by the U.S. government.

The State Department accused the group of overseeing widespread human rights abuses including mass executions and rape across Iraq and Syria.

They were added to the 'Rewards for Justice' program yesterday as America sought to ratchet up pressure on the terror group after it claimed responsibility for an attack in Texas on Sunday. 

The militant with the largest bounty – $7million (€6.25million) – is Abdel Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, who was designated a global terrorist for the purpose of U.S. Treasury sanctions in May last year.
A Syrian militant, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, whose birth name is Taha Sobhi Falaha and who is around 38 years old, is subject to a $5million reward for information leading to his death or capture.

Terror targets: ISIS leaders Abdel Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli (left) and Abu Mohammed al-Adnani (right) have bounties of $7million and $5million placed on their heads by the U.S. government

Tarkhan Batirashvili, better known under his Arabic nom de guerre as Omar al-Shishani, is also under a $5million reward
There is a $3million bounty on the head of Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-Awni al-Harzi, a 33-year-old Tunisian

Tarkhan Batirashvili (left), better known under his nom de guerre as Omar al-Shishani, is under a $5million reward, while there is a $3m bounty on the head of Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-Awni al-Harzi (right)

The militant with the largest bounty – $7million (€6.25million) – is Abdel Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli, who was designated a global terrorist for the purpose of U.S. Treasury sanctions in May last year.

The State Department alleged that he had been a deputy to the late leader of Al-Qaeda's Iraqi faction, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and had travelled to Syria to join ISIS in 2012 after he was freed from an Iraqi jail.

The U.S. Treasury lists Qaduli as an Iraqi, born in either 1957 or 1959 in the city of Mosul.

A Syrian militant, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, whose birth name is Taha Sobhi Falaha and who is around 38 years old, is subject to a $5million reward for information leading to his death or capture.

The statement describes him as an ISIS spokesman who has repeatedly called for attacks on the United States. 

World most wanted terrorists: The U.S. State Department's 'Rewards for Justice' offers huge sums of money for information on terror leaders. Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri tops the list with a $25million reward

World most wanted terrorists: The U.S. State Department's 'Rewards for Justice' offers huge sums of money for information on terror leaders. Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri tops the list with a $25million reward

Dozens of other terror leaders also feature on the list, with rewards ranging from $1million to $25million

Dozens of other terror leaders also feature on the list, with rewards ranging from $1million to $25million

Tarkhan Batirashvili, better known under his Arabic nom de guerre as Omar al-Shishani, is also under a $5million reward.

The 29-year-old Georgian is accused of overseeing a prison outside the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa where several foreign hostages were held.

There is a $3million bounty on the head of Tariq bin al-Tahar bin al-Falih al-Awni al-Harzi, a 33-year-old Tunisian.

He is accused of acting as an ISIS fundraiser in the Gulf states and later as a field commander in Syria and as head of a unit of suicide bombers.  

The Iraqi leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was already the subject of a $10million reward under the program. 

Most wanted on the list – with a $25million bounty – is Ayman al-Zawahiri who became leader of Al Qaeda after Osama bin Laden was shot dead in 2011.

Elton Simpson
Nadir Soofi

Shot dead: Elton Simpson, pictured left, and Nadir Soofi, right, opened fire outside an anti-Islam event on Sunday evening in Texas. ISIS later called the men 'two soldiers of the caliphate'

Attack: The bodies of two alleged ISIS gunmen are seen next to their vehicle after being shot dead while trying to storm a Prophet Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas, at the weekend

Attack: The bodies of two alleged ISIS gunmen are seen next to their vehicle after being shot dead while trying to storm a Prophet Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas, at the weekend

ISIS has seized a wide stretch of eastern Syria and northern Iraq and declared it a caliphate, within which it has enslaved female captives, carried out sectarian massacres and murdered hostages.

Iraqi and Kurdish security forces are fighting back, supported by Iranian advisers and a US-led air coalition.

But ISIS is holding on in its heartland and allied groups have sprung up as far away as Libya and Nigeria. 

They also appear to have spread their influence to American soil. 

Two gunmen were killed and a police officer wounded after a shooting broke out at a Prophet Mohammed cartoon event in Garland, Texas, at the weekend.

ISIS quickly moved to claim the attack as its own work – and has now issued a terrifying death threat at the organiser as well as claiming to have 71 'trained soldiers' operating within America.

An audio statement on the extremist group's Al Bayan radio station called the men 'two soldiers of the caliphate'.

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