Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the terror leader at the center of

Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who led a lightning offensive through Syria, has a long history of extremism despite a recent appeal to moderate policies.

“Golani is a specially designated global terrorist,” Bill Roggio, managing editor of Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital. “He was a member of al Qaeda… the U.S. keeps him on the list for a reason.”

Roggio’s comments come after Islamist rebels led by Golani’s organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive throughout Syria that resulted in the capture of the country’s capital, Demascus, and the overthrow of the regime of Bashar Assad, who fled the country Saturday as rebels closed in on the city.

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY

Abu Mohammed al-Golani inspects the damage after an earthquake in the village of Besnaya in Syria’s rebel-held northwestern Idlib province at the border with Turkey, on Feb. 7, 2023. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)

Golani was first drawn to jihadi thinking following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., according to a report from the Guardian.

He left Syria and joined al Qaeda in Iraq, only to return to his home country in 2011 during a revolt against Assad’s regime, eventually joining the side of al Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri in 2013.

Golani would cut ties with al Qaeda in 2016 and lead a merger between HTS and other Islamist groups in northwest Syria in 2017, bringing him control of territory that had fallen out of government hands during the country’s long civil war.

The U.S. Department of State designated Geolani as a specially designated global terrorist in May 2013, citing his leadership in multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria that often targeted civilians.