This Photo Does Not Show the Leader of Tahrir al-Sham
The Claim
A photo of the terrorist Al-Jolani after his death in the Russian airstrike.
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A photo showing a dead man was widely shared recently claiming that it depicts Abu Muhammad al-Julani, the commander-in-chief of Tahrir al-Sham.
An X user shared the photo captioning it, “A photo of the terrorist Al-Jolani after his death in the Russian airstrike.”
One of the media outlets that shared the claim was the Afghan Voice Agency. The outlet shared the viral photo in an article titled, “The leader of the terrorist group Tahrir al-Sham was killed.”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral claim and found it to be misleading.
An Outdated Photo of Abu Al-Qaqa’s Body
Through reverse image search, Misbar’s team found that the photo was outdated. A website named Islam Times published the photo in 2015 in an article titled, “Jordanian terrorist "Abu Al-Qaqa" killed in airstrike on Homs.”
We further found the photo published on social media platforms in 2015. The Facebook account of Syrian Republican Guard Electronic Brigade 105 shared the viral photo in 2015 with news of the death of Abu Al-Qaqa, whose real name is “Hazem Munizel.”
An X user also shared the photo in question in 2015 with news on the killing of a Jordanian named “Hazem Munizel.”
Hazem Munizel, or Abu Al-Qaqa Al-Urduni, a Jordanian who was killed while fighting in the jihadist organizations in Syria in September 2015, during battles between the Free Syrian Army and one of the jihadist organizations in the outskirts of the Homs. He was the Emir of Al-Qarytayn sector in Damascus province.
Who Is Abu Muhammad al-Julani?
Al-Julani has been the political and military leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) since its formation. He has been indulged in armed activities since 2003, as he was under the leadership of Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in Iraq.
The crisis in Syria allowed Al-Julani to participate in establishing a branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria under the name Al-Nusra Front. The group was merged under ISIS two years later, however, Al-Julani rejected it and declared his complete loyalty to Al-Qaeda.
In 2016, Al-Julani announced the disengagement between Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda. Then, he announced the formation of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” which consisted of several armed factions in Syria a year later.
Al-Jolani and his group are designated as global terrorists by the U.S. In May 2017, the U.S. offered a reward of up to $10 million for information on him.
News on Al-Julani’s Murder Debunked By The Syrian Observatory
The viral claim began to circulate after Syrian media published a video showing the bombing of the headquarters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib, Syria. The bombing were reportedly Russian.
However, the Russian Ministry of Defence did not publish any confirmation of the viral claim.
The director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, debunked these claims regarding them as baseless news.
He said to Al Arabiya that "several raids targeted multiple locations in Idlib, but they were far from Al-Julani's headquarters, according to informed sources."
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