DEMASCUS: In just four days, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani and his forces advanced through Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, ultimately raising their flags in Damascus. The swift campaign toppled Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule, showcasing al-Jolani’s remarkable strategic acumen.
Under Jolani’s leadership, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has emerged as the most formidable opposition force in Syria, repeatedly outmaneuvering the Syrian military.
The Assad regime’s attempts to undermine al-Jolani, including circulating a purported image of him killed in a Russian airstrike, have consistently failed, with such reports swiftly debunked.
Al-Jolani’s rise is rooted in years of experience with groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, but his trajectory took a unique turn nearly a decade ago.
Seeking to establish a distinct identity, he distanced himself from global jihadist ambitions to focus solely on creating an “Islamic Republic” within Syria.
Born as Ahmad Hussein al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1982, al-Jolani’s family relocated to Syria in 1989, settling near Damascus.
His political journey began in Iraq in 2003, where he joined al-Qaeda during the resistance against a US invasion. In 2006, he was captured by US forces and spent five years in detention before his release.
Following his release, al-Jolani aligned with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State in Iraq, and returned to Syria with a mission to establish a Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. Thus, the al-Nusra Front was born, gaining influence in opposition-held territories, especially in Idlib.
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However, a schism in 2013 marked a turning point. When Baghdadi declared ISIS’s independence from al-Qaeda and sought to absorb the al-Nusra Front, al-Jolani rejected the move, maintaining allegiance to al-Qaeda. This decision set him on a divergent path, separating himself from Baghdadi’s global ambitions.
In 2016, as ISIS lost its Aleppo stronghold to government forces backed by international coalitions, al-Jolani adapted.
He rebranded his group as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, inviting displaced fighters from Aleppo to join him in Idlib.
Over time, this evolved into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a coalition of smaller militant factions unified under al-Jolani’s leadership.
HTS’s stated mission is to liberate Syria from Assad’s authoritarian rule and Iranian-backed militias, aiming to establish an Islamic republic.
Unlike his former associates, al-Jolani adopted a more pragmatic stance, pledging protection for Syria’s minorities and advocating for their rights within an Islamic framework. This shift has garnered him a degree of international attention as a relatively palatable figure compared to the extremist ideologies of ISIS.
Despite these assurances, HTS remains designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
Nonetheless, al-Jolani’s leadership continues to reshape Syria’s opposition dynamics, leaving his role in the country’s uncertain future an open question.