The ANF accused the Mashaal Brigade of meeting with ISIL, al-Nusra, and Ahrar al-Sham in an attempt to capture Rmelan from the YPG on 16 July 2013.[7] After being expelled from Ras al-Ayn, Hilali headed to the Raqqa Governorate. There, he was captured by ISIL, imprisoned, and tortured for 40 days, reportedly for being Kurdish and secular. He was released and stayed in al-Yaarubiyah, on the northern Iraq–Syria border, for a month.