5 facts about Syria’s Islamist rebel group HTS and its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani

5. Jolani was inspired by 9/11 terror attacks in the U.S.

The 9/11 attacks profoundly influenced Jolani’s psyche, as they did for many of his generation, Middle East Eye noted in 2021.

The audacity of striking the U.S. on its own soil marked a turning point in his life, igniting his admiration for the attackers whom he saw as “exceptional” figures reshaping the world. This admiration led him to engage with the burgeoning jihadist ideology through secretive gatherings in marginalized Damascus suburbs like Hajira, Sbeneh and Drosha, marking the beginnings of his radicalization, according to the Eye.

The onset of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 presented Jolani with a personal challenge to emulate his idol, Osama bin Laden, not just in appearance but in deeds, striving to carve out his distinct legacy separate from his father’s nostalgic tales of Iraq, the publication added.

During this period, he departed from his father’s ideals of pan-Arabism, and embraced a more radical and straightforward ideology that could galvanize jihadists and other militants during conflict.

In 2003, leveraging jihadi support networks within Syria, Jolani moved to Iraq to join Saraya al-Mujahideen, a notable jihadist faction in Mosul. This group later pledged allegiance to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leading to its integration into what would become the Islamic State.