In an interview with the Saudi-based Arab News an associate of Qawali, a Peshmerga commander said regarding him, “Sheikh Mujahid Assi … is leading an armed group in Tuz Khurmatu as a part of the Kurdish popular resistance against the Shiite terrorist militias.” And attributed rocket attacks in the town to Qawali. He and the White Flags had also been accused of executing truck drivers on a road between Baghdad and Kirkuk, by Iraqi media.