A collage of photos is being widely shared on social media (here, here, and here), claiming to show Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the UN, alongside another image allegedly showing him holding two severed heads during his time as a terrorist. The post is being shared with captions such as, “Yesterday’s terrorist is tomorrow’s UN leader. The reign of terrorists has begun,” and blames the USA, stating, “Be it Syria or Pakistan, US backing is clear.” Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.
Claim: The photos show Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who recently attended the UN General Assembly, holding severed heads in the past.
Fact: The viral collage does not show the same person. The photo of a man holding severed heads actually depicts ISIS member Mohamed Elomar, who reportedly died in June 2015, not Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Al-Sharaa’s UN photo is genuine, posted on the official Syrian Presidency Instagram on 23 September 2025. Formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, Ahmed al-Sharaa led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is recognised as a terrorist group by the US, EU, and UN. He severed ties with al-Qaeda after 2016, became interim president in January 2025. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To trace the origin of the photo showing a man holding two severed heads, we conducted a reverse image search, which led us to multiple media reports (here, here, and here) from 2014 featuring the same image. According to the reports, the photo was posted online by ISIS, showing Mohamed Elomar posing with the heads of forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The image was shared by Khaled Sharrouf, an Australian ISIS member. Both Sharrouf and Elomar were later killed during combat in Syria and Iraq. Sharrouf was believed to have died in June 2015 from a drone strike, but his death was only confirmed in August 2017 after a coalition airstrike near Raqqa, Syria, which reportedly also killed two of his sons. Elomar’s death was confirmed earlier in 2015, with his body recovered, while Sharrouf’s remains were not found.
We found that the viral photo of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was posted on the official Instagram handle of the Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic on 23 September 2025. The caption stated that the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Ahmed al-Sharaa, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Asad al-Shaibani, was participating in the Conference on the Solution of the Two States, held in the General Assembly Hall on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa recently addressed the United Nations General Assembly, becoming the first Syrian leader to do so in nearly 60 years. In his speech, he emphasised Syria reclaiming its rightful place among nations, called for the lifting of international sanctions imposed during the Assad era, highlighted the country’s commitment to justice, and stressed the formation of investigative missions into recent sectarian violence.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, previously led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an organisation designated as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations. After 2016, HTS severed its ties with al-Qaeda. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, al-Sharaa led the rebel operation that ousted Assad, became the interim president in January 2025. However, this particular viral photo showing a person holding severed heads is not of him.
To sum up, this viral photo does not show Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa holding severed heads; it shows ISIS member Mohamed Elomar.
