Ahmad al-Shalah, known as Muhammad al-Jawlani or Abu Muhammad al-Golani, the leader of the Syrian opposition who ousted Bashar al-Assad and took over the country, remains on the list of wanted persons. He is being offered a $10 million bounty from the United States. terrorist.
The U.S. Department of State's website “Rewards for Justice'' states:
Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information regarding Muhammad al-Jawlani, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Golani and Muhammad al-Julani. Al Jaulani heads al-Nusra Front (ANF), the al-Qaeda (AQ) branch in Syria. In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline rebel groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Although Al Jaulani is no longer the leader of HTS, he continues to be the leader of ANF, which is affiliated with AQ and is the core of HTS.
Under al-Jaulani's leadership, the ANF carried out multiple terrorist attacks across Syria, many targeting civilians. In April 2015, the ANF reportedly kidnapped approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria and later released them. In June 2015, the ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in Qalb Rause, a Druze village in Syria's Idlib province.
In April 2013, al-Jawlani pledged allegiance to AQ and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. In July 2016, al-Jawlani praised AQ and al-Zawahiri in an online video and claimed that the ANF would change its name to Jabhat Fas al-Sham (meaning “Conquest of the Levantine Front”).
