Born: 01 January 1973 to 31 December 1973;

Place of Birth: Sahl village, Raqqa province, Syria;

Nationality: Syria;

Activities:

Al-Shawakh is designated for acting for or on behalf of the Islamic State.

As of mid-2015, Syrian national al-Shawakh served as Islamic State’s governor for Raqqah, Syria.

After previously serving as Islamic State’s senior security official for Syria, and as governor in Aleppo, roles in which he directed combat assignments for foreign fighters.

Al-Shawakh was in charge of Islamic State’s detention of foreign hostages, and oversaw the appointment of other Islamic State leaders.

Al-Shawakh supervised security matters, including executions, interrogations, and transfers of Islamic State prisoners, at an al-Raqqah detention facility used to hold foreign hostages and Islamic State foreign recruits who had refused to fight.

In mid-2014, al-Shawakh ordered the beheadings of two Islamic State hostages.

Al-Shawakh also served on a governance council chaired by ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (a.k.a. Dr. Ibrahim al-Badri).