He was described as a calm individual, and reportedly held ties to Mullah Krekar an Islamist cleric and founder of Ansar al-Islam.

[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.

In April 2016 he took part in clashes against Iraqi Security Forces, and Kurdish media outlets showed photos of him removing the flag of Kata'ib Hezbollah afterwards.

In December 2017, he reportedly established the White Flags, and led the group in firing mortars and rockets at Turkmen PMF positions in Tuz Khurmato which Iraqi security forces claim to have resulted in the death of two civilians and the injury of several others.

In response to the attacks attributed to Qawali, the mayor of Tuz Khurmato said regarding him and the group he reportedly leads, “These are extremist groups who were oppressed and prevented (by the Kurdish authorities) from working before,” adding “They are Kurdish militants (and are) joined by Daesh (ISIL) militants who fled the neighboring areas,” and “They are sleeper cells that were waiting for the right time and place to resume their activities.”[7] On 28 December 2017, he was reportedly arrested by Iraqi security forces along with members of the White Flags for firing rockets and mortars at Turkmen Popular Mobilization Forces command centers in Kirkuk.