[3][4] Abu Layla was born near Kobanî and is of mixed Kurdish and Arab parentage; he died in a hospital in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

His death was caused by a sniper bullet to the head he received in the Abu Qelqel village during an offensive against the Islamic State in Manbij on 5 June 2016.

[6] In 2013, Abu Layla led a small unit in the Kurdish Front Brigade and took part in assassination operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Manbij and Jarabulus.

During the Siege of Kobani, he gained widespread attention on the Internet after allegedly saving an Islamic State fighter from the rubble.

During the siege he was wounded seven times, including once on 29 November 2014 when he was transported to Turkey for treatment,[5] but returned to lead his battalion alongside the YPG and Peshmerga.

[8] He had previously been evacuated by a US military helicopter to a hospital in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, but doctors were unable to remove the bullet in his head and prevent internal bleeding in the brain.

[12] His brother Yussuf Abu Sa’dun was captured on 4 July by the Islamic State in the same operation near Manbij.