Qawali is from the Tuz Khurmato region of Iraq's Saladin Governorate, is in his fifties and from a poor background, and lived by a river which he would draw water from and transport with his tractor to other areas to earn an income. He was described as a calm individual, and reportedly held ties to Mullah Krekar an Islamist cleric and founder of Ansar al-Islam, and is also alleged to have had ties to ISIL.[1] Qawali was also a member the Kurdistan Democratic Party and a supporter of Masoud Barzani as well as a volunteer of its armed branch Peshmerga, and carried out attacks with his supporters against Iraqi government forces and allied paramilitary groups by riding horses, motorcycles and 4-wheel drive vehicles and launching the attacks from the Hamrin Mountains.[2][3][4] Between 2015 and 2016 he participated in riots in Tuz Khurmato and allegedly burned down houses belonging to Iraqi Turkmen.