ISIS, al Qaeda in New Talks to Partner for Terror

Terrorists affiliated with ISIS and al Qaeda are currently talking about ways of joining forces — of becoming active partners in the war against the West.

Iraq’s vice president Ayad Allawi told Reuters he learned of the communications through contacts in Iraq and the region.

As Fox News reported:

“Allawi said the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the head of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are not communicating with each other directly but through intermediaries.

“‘I don’t know exactly when, but there are discussions and dialogues between messengers,’ he said, adding that it’s not clear how the two groups will work together.

“The Islamic State, which made territorial gains in Mosul and parts of northern Iraq, has more recently been pushed out of much of the region under pressure from an international coalition that includes the United States.

“Despite losing ground, the group still controls areas in Mosul’s Old City, where the narrow streets have slowed coalition forces. ISIS still maintains control of a handful of other Iraqi towns and its base in Raqqa, Syria.

“Iraq’s prime minister last month called for more support from the international community to combat ISIS and Al Qaeda. Talk of the terror groups working together could help raise more military aid.

The two groups have basically been competing with each other for membership and money since 2014. That’s when ISIS split from al Qaeda, over differences in jihadi direction — specifically, ISIS wanted to go even more brutaal.

Again, from Fox:

“Earlier this year, Al Qaeda’s leader repeated criticism of the Islamic State’s violent attacks, such as beheadings of civilians. Al Qaeda refused to recognize ISIS’s self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

“Some analysts said animosity between the two groups is further fueled by competition to each be seen as the true leader of the Islamic jihadist cause.”