It is thought that al-Qatari left Iraq to join al-Qaeda in Afghanistan where he worked closely with
Osama bin Laden,
Ayman al-Zawahiri and
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam in fighting in the
Soviet-Afghan War. From Afghanistan, al-Qatari traveled to
Chechnya where he fought against Russian forces. Amid the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Abu Abdulaziz reportedly escaped from prison and assisted
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in forming the predecessor to ISIS, al-Qaeda in Iraq. This group carried out violent acts targeting diplomats, foreign troops, entertainment centers, and
Iraqi Shi'ites after the
2003 invasion of Iraq. It is reported that al-Qatari entered Syria months after the start of the
Syrian Civil War with one of his sons, Abu Turab, who was later killed in Syria. Al-Qatari would later split from the al-Nusra Front to establish Jund al-Aqsa. While Jund al-Aqsa continued to fight alongside the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham against Western-backed groups in Syria, divisions emerged between Jund al-Aqsa and its partners over fighting ISIS. Al-Qatari and Jund al-Aqsa were known for reconciliatory efforts among jihadist groups, and purportedly opposed fighting ISIS. Abu Abdulaziz al Qatari's name was eliminated from the latest terrorist list published by the UAE in September 2023, along with the names of 58 other individuals and 12 organizations. == Death ==