Samir Hijazi, known as Abu Humam al-Shami or Faruq al-Suri, is a Syrian militant and soldier who was the military chief of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

. He became the head of the

Guardians of Religion Organization Tanẓīm Ḥurrās ad-Dīn , native_name_lang = ar , war = the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi insurgency (2017–present) , image = , caption = , active = 27 February 2018–present , ideology ...

in February 2018, though he was replaced by Khalid al-Aruri.

Early life

Abu Humam al-Shami is of Syrian origin. He traveled to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

between 1998 and 1999 and is believed to have spent a year at

Al Ghuraba training camp Al Ghuraba training camp (Arabic الغرباء) is an alleged al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, near Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a m ...

, run by Abu Musab al-Suri. He attended al-Qaeda's

Al Farouq training camp The Al Farouq training camp, also called ''Jihad Wel al-Farouq'', was a Taliban and Al-Qaeda training camp near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Camp attendees received small-arms training, map-reading, orientation, explosives training, and other training. N ...

, where he finished second in his class. He was later made a trainer at Al Farouq training camp and afterwards he was appointed the emir over the region of the

Kandahar Airport Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport ( ps, د کندهار نړيوال هوايي ډګر) and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield, KAF) , is located about south-east of the city Ka ...

training camp by

Saif al-Adel Saif al-Adel ( ar, سيف العدل; born April 11, 1960/63) is a former Egyptian colonel, explosives expert, and a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda who is still at large. Adel is under indictment by the United States He pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden, personally shaking his hand, and was placed in charge of Syrian jihadists in Afghanistan. He took part in al-Qaeda's battles at the time. He was appointed by

Saeed al-Masri Mustafa Ahmed Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid ( ar, مصطفى أحمد محمد عثمان أبو اليزيد), better known as Saeed al-Masri ( ar, سعيد المصري) or simply al-Masri, (February 27, 1955 - May 21, 2010) was an Egyptian who ...

to work in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

prior to the fall of

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

in 2003. He stayed in Iraq "as an official representative of" al-Qaeda for four months prior to the Iraq War. During that time, he met with both

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ( ar, أَبُو مُصْعَبٍ ٱلزَّرْقَاوِيُّ, ', ''Father of Musab, from Zarqa''; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh (, '), was a Jordanian jihadist who ran a t ...

and

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir

. He was arrested by Iraqi intelligence and transferred to Syrian custody but he was quickly freed by the Syrians and resumed his work in Iraq. At the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003, he was appointed as the military head "of the mujahideen services office that was working in the benefit of the jihad in Iraq." Zarqawi “would send him men and he would train them militarily and

hen Hen commonly refers to a female animal: a female chicken, other galliformes, gallinaceous bird, any type of bird in general, or a lobster. It is also a slang term for a woman. Hen or Hens may also refer to: Places Norway *Hen, Buskerud, a villa ...

return them to” Iraq. In 2005, he was subject to a series of arrests by the Syrian intelligence that forced him to flee to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. He then returned to Afghanistan. At some point he returned to the Levant under the orders of

Atiyah Abd al-Rahman Atiyah Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عطية عبد الرحمن; 1969 – August 22, 2011), born Jamal Ibrahim Ashtiwi al Misrati, was reported by the US State Department

and in 2007 was arrested and imprisoned in

for five years. During this time he was held in the infamous Roumieh Prison.

Syrian Civil War

He was released from prison in Lebanon in 2012 and immediately traveled to Syria to participate in the Syrian Civil War. He joined

and became the group's overall military chief. In August 2016, it was reported on social media that al-Shami informed Nusra in letter he wouldn't join Jabhat Fateh al Sham.

Relations with ISIL

In 2014, al-Nusra was engaged in hostilities with the break away al-Qaeda faction,

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. Al-Shami was said to have spearheaded efforts in order to negotiate a ceasefire. He met with one of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's chief deputies. Baghdadi's deputy supposedly told al-Shami that either ISIL will annihilate everyone else, or ISIL itself will be annihilated. When al-Shami suggested that their differences could be settled in a common sharia court, Baghdadi's deputy replied that they will bring their disagreements to a sharia court when the fight to the death is over. The al-Nusra Front finally brokered a ceasefire with ISIL, when al-Shami met with

Abu Omar al-Shishani Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili ( ka, თარხან ბათირაშვილი; 11 January 1986 – 10 July 2016), known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Omar al-Shishani ( ar, أَبُو عُمَرَ ٱلشِّيشَانِيِّ, ' ...

, the Chechen ISIL commander. Before the deal could be ratified however, ISIL detonated a car bomb. The bombing presumably brought the peace process to a halt.

Reports of death

On 5 March 2015, Syrian state media claimed that al-Shami had been killed in a Syrian Army operation in the Idlib Province. However, other sources, including the SOHR, reported that al-Shami had been killed by a US-led Coalition airstrike. His death was never officially confirmed by the Pentagon or al-Nusra Front. Reports of al-Shami's death were undermined when he was added to the U.S. State Department's

Rewards for Justice The Rewards for Justice Program (RFJ) is the counterterrorism and counterintelligence platform administered by the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service agency. The Rewards For Justice program is seeking information leading to the ...

wanted list on 12 September 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shami, Abu Humam al- 1977 births Al-Nusra Front members Fugitives Leaders of Islamic terror groups People from Damascus Possibly living people Syrian al-Qaeda members

Early life

Syrian Civil War

Relations with ISIL

Reports of death

See also

References