I have taken a part of it from writing of another brother. This relates to the fact that Scholars who lead the Mujahidin are the prime target of the enemies of Islam. Because they know that there is spirit of resistance within the Ummah. But if this spirit is not guided by Scholars of Islam then it could go down the path of destruction. The examples of Scholars and intellectuals of Islam who have been killed by enemies of Islam are many. Some of the big names are :-

> Sheikh Abdullah Azzam(rh) assassinated by Jordanian intelligence.
> Sheikh Abu Yahya al Libi(rh).
> Sheikh Atiya al Libi(rh).
> Sheikh Anwar Awlaki(rh).
> Ahsan Aziz(rh). (A poet, Da'ee and Mujahid involved with AQIS).
> Abu Khalid al Suri(rh).

This is because such people are the ones who are the center or brain of resistance movements. As it can be  Rasulullah(sa) said  "Knowledge is taken away when scholars go." When enemies of Islam take away these scholars, they succeed in driving away the resistance movements from success. Examples of such failed movements include GIA, Gama al Islamiyah and most recently the dive of ISIS towards extremism and some reckless actions by TTP.

I also believe that Ulema and leaders of Ahrar-al-Sham were targeted for similar reasons.

"I now understand why Anwar Awlaki was killed. When great activists and leaders have been killed, usually the last lecture of theirs is an indication to why they were killed by a certain government. For example Malcolm X, Malcolm X was calling for a distorted version of Islam and a call to separation from the white Americans, this was in favour of the American government at the time. Malcolm X however changed his view and at the last period of his life and in his last lecture he called to true Islam, justice, equality while at the same time maintaining that the black man has to be empowered and become independent. A week or so after he was shot dead.