ISISISIS, al-Nusra reconcile as Syria air strikes continue

Aftermath of a ISIS-al Nusra dispute // Source: dainiksaveratimes.com

Under continuing strikes by U.S. and coalition air forces, ISIS moved toward a new alliance with Syria’s largest al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

Jabhat al-Nusra, which has been at odds with ISIS for more than a year now, was also subjected to U.S. air strikes which killed scores of the group’s members. Many al-Nusra units in northern Syria now appear to have reconciled with ISIS, following months of bitter clashes between the two groups.

A senior source told the Guardian that al-Nusra and ISIS leaders were now holding war planning meetings. Analysts note that the addition of at least some al-Nusra units to ISIS would bolster ISIS’s ranks and extend its reach at a time when continuing air strikes are destroying its military arsenal and the oil fields on which it depends for revenues.

On Friday al-Nusra released an audio statement in which it described the U.S. air strikes as a “war on Islam.” A senior al-Nusra figure told the Guardian that seventy-three members had defected to ISISI last week, and that scores more were planning to do so in coming days.

“We are in a long war,” al-Nusra’s spokesman, Abu Firas al-Suri, said on social media platforms. “This war will not end in months nor years, this war could last for decades.”

Moderate Syrian rebels are reported to resent the fact that the air strikes have done nothing to weaken the Syrian regime. “We have been calling for these sorts of attacks for three years and when they finally come they don’t help us,” said a leader from the Qatari-backed Islamic Front, which groups together Islamic brigades. “People have lost faith. And they’re angry.”