This was the deadliest insurgent sniper in Iraq

The name struck fear in the hearts of U.S. and coalition troops during the war in Iraq. A sharpshooter who could unleash his deadly round in an instant and melt away unscathed. He was almost like a ghost — a hyper accurate insurgent sniper that built a legend around his stealth and lethality. Videos peppered YouTube and LiveLeak that reportedly chronicled his exploits, adding to the growing legend.

In fact, "Juba," as he was known, became a media sensation in his own right, his lethal skills were condensed into the character "Mustafa" that fought a sniper duel with Chris Kyle in the popular "American Sniper" film. And he's the central villain in the sniper thriller movie "The Wall."

Insurgent propaganda credited Juba with 37 kills and he became well known among American troops in Iraq during the height of the insurgency in 2005 and 2007.

"He's good. Every time we dismount I'm sure everyone has got him in the back of their minds," Spc. Travis Burress, an sniper based in Camp Rustamiyah, told The Guardian newspaper in 2005. "He's a serious threat to us."

Videos purported to show several of Juba's kills are a vivid reminder of why he was so feared by American troops. With pinpoint accuracy, the insurgent sharpshooter was able to target the gaps where heavily-armored U.S. service members remained vulnerable, dropping coalition forces with heartbreaking deftness.

And when he killed, he proved difficult to track.

"We have different techniques to try to lure him out, but he is very well trained and very patient," a U.S. officer told The Guardian. "He doesn't fire a second shot."

Insurgent videos taunted U.S. troops — and even President Bush —that Juba was everywhere. (YouTube screen shot)

To hunt Juba, the U.S. dispatched the notorious Task Force Raptor, an elite unit of Iraqi special operators akin to Baghdad's version of Delta Force. The Raptors harried Juba on his home turf of Ramadi, chasing him around the insurgent hotbed until the trail went cold. Most analysts at the time argued that Juba had fled Ramadi for another battlefield.

Though Juba became a well-known name among American troops on patrol in Iraq, there are some who argue the insurgent marksman was a myth — a composite of several enemy snipers that was built into a legend by the insurgency to frighten coalition troops. At Juba's height, about 300 American troops had been killed by gunshots in Iraq, and one video of Juba's exploits claimed he'd killed more than 140 soldiers and Marines.

"Speculation is [that] there was more than one Juba," said former Special Forces and Iraq war vet Woody Baird. "My estimation is the bad guys were running a psychological operation attempting to terrorize the conventional forces by promoting a super sniper."

It's unclear what happened to Juba, though most agree that he was killed in action — either by American or Iraqi sharpshooters or even ISIS terrorists.

But some believe Juba is a made up insurgent meant to strike fear in U.S. troops at checkpoints and in vehicle hatches.

"Juba the Sniper? He's a product of the U.S. military," Capt. Brendan Hobbs told Stars and Stripes in 2007. "We've built up this myth ourselves."