 Al-Madani subsequently became the new leader of JMA, while Shishani and his North Caucasian loyalists formed a new independent group called "Jaish al-Usrah", and swore allegiance to the Caucasus Emirate's then leader, Magomed Suleymanov.In late November 2013, in an online statement, Abu Omar al-Shishani swore a bay'at—oath of allegiance—to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).The statement claimed that those members of the group who had sworn a prior bay'at to Dokka Umarov, leader of the Caucasus Emirate, were awaiting approval from Umarov before also joining ISIL.