Jolani With Al-Qaeda While Attacking Kurds In Syria

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

Trump is enthralled by al Sharaa AKA Jolani, the terrorist.  As Jolani, he commanded men by being a leader and that's all that's important these days.  Now he's commanding Syrian civilians and many do not like it.  Some say he's a cruel man.  You just have to show your leadership background and you are made in the shade.  Will people ever want a different sort who wants peace in the Middle East? It just happens that most here in Syria are ready, possibly feeling like the citizens of Iran at this time.    Iran's Prince of the former Shah hasn't had experience being a leader, but I bet he is chosen as President of Iran for a few years, anyway.   Some people are just born with leadership qualities.                                                            

   This is Jolani's mug shot in 2003:   Abu Mohammad al-Jolani from his time in U.S. detention (he was later imprisoned at Camp Bucca from 2006–2011)

    Iraq is Camp Bucca Prison -Sept. 6, 2009

     May 20, 2008 in Camp Bucca At Camp Bucca, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was imprisoned by U.S. forces after joining al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) following the 2003 invasion; during his time there, he strengthened his jihadist network, met Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and was influenced by AQI's internal dynamics, which shaped his later militant activities and leadership in Syria. 

Based on the provided search results, in 2003, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani (born Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa in 1982) was a young man in his early 20s who moved from Damascus, Syria, to Iraq to join the insurgency against the U.S.-led invasion. 

• Move to Iraq: He traveled from Damascus to Baghdad by bus shortly before the 2003 invasion began.
• Early Activities: He joined al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and became a foreign fighter against U.S. forces.
• Detention: In 2003, he was briefly detained and questioned by Syrian Military Intelligence for illegally leaving the country for Iraq, but was released after denying affiliation with extremist groups.
• Rise in Ranks: He quickly rose through the ranks of AQI, becoming associated with its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.  He was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan.
• Abu Mohammed al-Jolani was an Al Qaeda commander in Syria, leading its affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, but he officially broke ties with Al Qaeda in 2016, rebranding his group as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and later presenting himself as a pragmatic leader focused on governing Syria's northwest, a significant shift from his earlier extremist ties to become a political figure. 

Al-Qaeda is responsible for numerous large-scale terrorist attacks, resulting in thousands of deaths globally. Their primary objective has been to attack the United States and its allies to force a withdrawal from the Middle East and establish a caliphate. 

                  Key acts of violence attributed to al-Qaeda include: 

Some major attacks linked to al-Qaeda include the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the 2000 USS Cole bombing in Yemen, and the 9/11 attacks in the USA in 2001. Other attacks include bombings in Bali (2002), Mombasa (2002), Amman (2005), and the 2013 In Amenas Hostage Crisis in Algeria. Al-Qaeda affiliates claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris (2015) and the Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting (2019). 

Additional actions and attempts include the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1995 Riyadh car bombing, and a 2010 cargo plane bomb plot. A comprehensive timeline of al-Qaeda attacks can be found on Wikipedia. Al-Qaeda continues to operate through regional affiliates like Al-Shabaab and AQAP. 

Kurds in Northeast Syria (Rojava) have established a self-governing region, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), controlling significant territory, but face increasing pressure from the new Syrian central government seeking to reintegrate their areas, leading to clashes, stalled integration talks, and a complex dynamic involving the US (a partner) and Turkey. (an adversary) While a recent government decree offered some Kurdish rights and language recognition, Kurdish authorities demand constitutional guarantees, and recent government offensives have captured key infrastructure, challenging Kurdish autonomy amidst deep mistrust and regional instability. 

Syrian regime forces push toward Raqqa; Kurdish fighters fall back

President Ahmad al-Sharaa moves to dismantle Kurdish autonomy in the northeast, seizing oil fields and advancing on former ISIS capital Raqqa; Kurds demolish Euphrates bridges but regime forces cross by boat; France urges immediate halt to hostilities

Despite the conciliatory decree, government forces launched operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including in Aleppo, causing over 150,000 to flee. Government forces have also taken control of key areas, including oil fields in the east previously held by the SDF. Following these clashes, a truce was announced in mid-January 2026. The Sharaa government is pushing for the total integration of Kurdish-led forces and administration into Syrian administration.  

While some view this as a necessary step for national unity, Kurdish leadership has noted that the measures, while positive in theory, do not fully satisfy their aspirations and that they are being forced to choose between submission and conflict.

 To find a leader in Syria that has not been a terrorist is like looking for the 

needle in the haystack.  What else is there?  

Key terrorist groups that have emerged from, been based in, or operated extensively within Syria include:

• Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): Formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria), this group evolved into a dominant, often described as pragmatic, force controlling much of Idlib.-Jolani association 
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS): Founded in Iraq, ISIS found a significant foothold in Syria, declaring Raqqa as its capital in 2014, and remains active with thousands of fighters. - Jolani association 
• Hurras al-Din: A designated terrorist organization that serves as an Al-Qaeda-aligned group in Syria.--Jolani association 
• Syrian National Army (SNA): A coalition of armed rebel groups backed by Turkey.
• People's Defense Units (YPG): A Kurdish militia that forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF); they are considered terrorists by Turkey, though they were U.S. partners against ISIS.
• Foreign Fighter Networks: Thousands of foreign fighters, many affiliated with groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS,-of Jolani's association,  traveled to and operated within Syria. 

As of the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, the security landscape has shifted, with HTS taking a leading role in the transition, while ISIS has exploited the, then, fragmented security environment. 

• Reference:
• https://www.csis.org/programs/former-programs/warfare-irregular-threats-and-terrorism-program-archives/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir
• https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hy00zmycrbl?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=editorial-push#google_vignette
• https://opensyr.com/en/pages/p-25#:~:text=Table_title:%20US%20Terrorist%20Listings%20on%20HTS%20and,%7C%20FTO:%20Yes%20%7C%20SDGT:%20Yes%20%7C
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war