Al-Julani is the current Emir and founder of the Syrian militant group now known as Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). This group was formed in 2017 with the merging of several other militant groups. It is the main force fighting the Syrian regime and until recently was allied to Al-Qaeda. It formally renounced links with Al-Qaeda in July 2016 in an attempt to show that the group is focused on regime change in Syria alone, and does not have wider regional goals.