Nusra Front, as well as other extremist groups, has been fighting in Syria against government forces since the outbreak of a civil war in the country in 2011.
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Clad in military fatigues and wearing a turban, Jolani thanked “the commanders of Al Qaeda for having understood the need to break ties”.
On Thursday, Nusra Front’s infamous leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani announced that his group would no longer be a part of Al-Qaeda.
Kyle Orton, a Syria expert and analyst for the Henry Jackson Society said of the release of Al-Jolani’s picture: “By finally showing the face of its leader, Al-Qaeda has emphasised to the population that it is a local, accessible force that is “one of them”.
Analysts say the Nusra Front chose to rebrand itself after the U.S. and Russian Federation stepped up their military efforts against the group, reported BBC.
Nusra and Daesh, another Takfiri group which is mainly operating in eastern Syria, have been excluded from a cessation of hostilities agreement engineered by the United States and Russian Federation since the end of February.
In a video aired on the Syrian opposition station Orient TV and Al-Jazeera Thursday, Mohammed al-Golani said the delinking from the terror network aimed to remove “pretexts” by the USA and Russian Federation to strike rebel groups while saying they are targeting Nusra.
It has become one of the most effective factions fighting the Syrian regime and now controls swaths of northwestern Syria. He said in an audio file posted online that the Nusra Front should do “whatever protects the interests of Islam and Muslims and protects jihad” in Syria.
The split raised questions over whether the USA would target the new group, since it is no longer officially an al Qaeda affiliate, and the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force authorizes US troops to target al Qaeda and its affiliates. Last year, sources told Reuters that the group’s leaders considered cutting ties with al Qaeda to form a new entity backed by some Gulf Arab states seeking to topple Assad but which are also hostile to Islamic State.
Shoigu said in televised comments Thursday that President Vladimir Putin has a “large-scale humanitarian operation” that will be launched outside Aleppo to “help civilians who were taken hostage by terrorists as well as fighters who wanted to lay down the arms”.
“We judge any organization, including this one, much more by its actions, its ideology, its goals”, added State Department spokesman John Kirby. The Study of War and American Enterprise Institute said in January that al-Nusra poses one of the most significant long-term threats to global security.
In April 2013, Al Nusra refused to join up with Daesh and pledged allegiance instead to Al Qaeda head Ayman Al Zawahiri, who later proclaimed Al Nusra the only branch of Al Qaeda in Syria.
It is Syria’s pre-eminent jihadist group, along with its key rival, ISIS.
Some of the Syrian rebel groups supported by the West had decried the USA bombing of al-Nusra pointing out that it had been effective in fighting the forces of both Basher al-Assad and Isis.
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Since September 2015, it has mainly been a target of air strikes by Russia, Assad’s main ally.
