both of which had intervened in the Syrian civil war to target Islamist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS. It was also the start of Jolani’s gradual transformation from the classic anti-West ...

He had risen through the ranks of the group then known as the Islamic State of Iraq, or ISI, and then with help from ISI’s successor, ISIS, Jolani founded an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria ...

Al-Jolani refused, pledging his ongoing allegiance to Al Qaeda – and soon his Nusra Front warriors were fighting ISIS, as well as Assad. As his Sunni Muslim group rose in prominence, he ...

Jolani rejected Baghdadi’s calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with ISI to form ISIS. Instead, he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, which later disassociated itself from ISIS.

or ISIS. Al-Jolani nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaida, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the Syrian ...

In that interview, Jolani was at pains to distance himself from Sunni terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, saying, “People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect ...

First, Jolani must demonstrate a sustained commitment to preventing his territory from being used for international terrorism. This means not only continuing to suppress ISIS and Al-Qaeda but also ...

Under Jolani’s leadership, Jabhat al-Nusra rapidly gained prominence ... local rebel factions and avoiding the brutal excesses of Isis, earned the group both territory and recruits.

Al-Jolani has also renounced his past as a former ... noting it was the very shrine ISIS militants vandalized during the civil war. The group’s leadership also issued a notice banning all ...