Al Qaeda’s Syria wing sees no peace with Islamic State soon: TV

The head of al Qaeda’s Syria wing Nusra Front said he saw no solution soon to a conflict with the rival Islamic State group in Syria that has killed hundreds of fighters, according to an interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday. Nusra Front, loyal to the successors of Osama bin Laden, and Islamic State are the two most powerful forces fighting government forces in Syria. The groups have fought each other since a split in 2013 largely due to a power struggle between leaders.

There is no solution between us and them in the meantime, or in the foreseeable future. We hope they repent to God and return to their senses…if not then there is nothing but fighting between us.

Abu Mohamad al-Golani said in an interview with a TV channel

It was the second of a two-part interview and included footage of a Nusra training camp, weaponry, a lesson inside a classroom as well as images of a prison and a food packing operation inside Nusra-held territory. The group has made gains in northwestern Syria alongside other insurgent groups in recent weeks, seizing the city of Idlib, the town of Jisr al-Shughour and bringing armed groups closer to government-held coastal areas north of the capital. Golani said his Sunni Muslim militant group had around 30 percent foreign fighters including “a small number” of Americans. The foreign contingent also included Europeans and many Asians, Russians and Chechens, he said.

Middle East Al qaeda