Omar Sulaman (9 November 1951 - 29 October 2019), also known as "The Wolf", was a Syrian terrorist who led the large Al-Qaeda cell Al-Qatala during the Syrian Civil War. Al-Qatala was separated from the main organization due to ideological differences, as he deemed insufficiently Islamist by the al-Qaeda leadership. His rhetoric focused on criticizing modern institutions and society rather than implementating sharia law. Nonetheless, his cell grew significantly as a result of defections from special forces and counter-terrorism units, as well as successful recruitment drives. Despite these gains, he was killed in 2019 SAS and Free Syrian Army raid on his compound in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Omar Sulaman was born in Syria in 1951 to a wealthy construction magnate. His father was forced to offer low-cost bids for royalty, religious leaders, the military, and the government. Seeing this widespread corruption sowed seeds of rebellion in the young Sulaman's soul, fueling his hatred for civilization.
Seeds of rebellion[]
Eventually, he left his relatively comfortable life to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan during the Soviet-Afghan War. Later, he fought on behalf of the West throughout the Middle East, witnessing countless atrocities committed by both sides. By 2013, he had become disillusioned with the Western governments for which he had fought, and he had issued a laminated script card to his former allies. With this, he declared that he would exploit the West's vulnerabilities and completely destroy their governments and all evidence of their existence.
Suleiman eventually formed an al-Qaeda cell in his home country, unofficially splitting it off from the main organization to pursue his own anti-modern agenda; this new organization would be nicknamed Al-Qatala - Arabic for "The Killers" - but was still officially identified as Al-Qaeda by both Western and Eastern nations. He established intensive training camps throughout the Middle East, recruiting hundreds of loyal soldiers each day. These soldiers came from all over the world, including from special forces and counter-terrorism units.
Throughout the 2010s, Sulaman was practically undetectable, maintaining a large network of well-connected safe houses across both Europe and Asia. In 2014, he was injured by a Russian airstrike, losing the majority of his vision in both eyes.
Capture and rescue[]
Sulaman was eventually tracked down to an Aleppo hospital in 2019, but before he could execute three captured Demon Dog soldiers, he was apprehended by CIA operative Alex Keller, along with a unit of Demon Dogs led by Sergeant Marcus Griggs. He was transported to the US Embassy in Damascus, where a large protest was organized outside, led by his lieutenant, Jamal Rahar.
As he spoke with Farah and Hadir Karim, as well as Alex, Al-Qatala broke into the Embassy grounds and brutally murdered everyone who was not protected by bulletproof glass. Sulaman was supposed to be extracted by an SAS two-man squad consisting of Captain John Price and Sergeant Kyle Garrick, but their helicopter was shot down and destroyed. Sulaman's men eventually broke into the Embassy itself with an armored truck and massacred all occupants, except for those who were escorted by Price's team during the incident.
Sulaman was taken to the compound of now-deceased Ambassador James Harris and kept in a locked vault. After a massive assault by his men, Sulaman was rescued, and all of the Marines guarding his vault were killed.
Hunt for the Wolf[]
Sulaman eventually was discovered at his compound in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Several SAS teams breached the compound and killed numerous terrorists inside. One of the remaining residents gave up his location beneath the tea house. Alex and Farah Karim volunteered to go down into the compound, but an explosion separated them from the rest of the group.
Sulaman taunted the two as they traveled through the base, even as an uncontrolled fire raged through the mostly wooden structure directly outside his room. Alex and Karim eventually broke into Sulaman's room in the middle of his speech, discovering him wearing an explosive vest. Sulaman was immediately shot in the head, killing the so-called Wolf.
The vest was still active, but thanks to Karim's knowledge of disabling explosives and Alex's cooperation, the two saved themselves and, presumably, the entire compound, including the rest of the team above.