Other fighters in the group reportedly made a Kurdish flag for him. After the rebel capture of Tell Abyad in September 2012, Hilali moved there and established the Mashaal Brigade, named after Mashaal Tammo. Hilali contacted other fighters in Aleppo and Idlib to join his group, and made Ras al-Ayn its base after other rebel groups captured it from government forces in November.[2][1]