[2] In 1944 Bannud was appointed director of the Homs Military Academy, where he encouraged students to mutiny against the French occupation forces.

[1] The last French troops left Syria in 1946 and the country regained its independence, and Bannud joined the newly established Syrian Army.

[1] Bannud blamed the civilian leadership in Damascus for the defeat in 1948 War, and supported the military coup of Chief-of-Staff Husni al-Zaim in March 1949 that overthrew President Shukri al-Quwatli.

Four months later, Bannud, the commander of Aleppo garrison at the time,[4] supported Adib Shishakli in a third successive coup in December 1949.

[5] Nevertheless, his popularity in the army arose Shishkali's suspicion, and Bannud was dismissed on 23 April 1951, and exiled under the pretense of a military attaché post at the Syrian embassy in Ankara, Turkey.