Iraq: The group that has long been considered the most dreaded terror organization in the world seems to be facing stiff rivalry from the ISIS. In a new publicised audio message, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has hit out at the Islamic State for trying to poach jihadists from other terror groups into joining its self-proclaimed caliphate.
Only recently, Zawahiri had criticised leaders of ISIS and had dismissed the group and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's caliphate as “illegitimate”. And this new message reflects how the al-Qaeda might be feeling vulnerable due to ISIS’ growing infamy and its rapidly increasing terror network. The extremist group now controls large parts Iraq and Syria and is constantly adding new recruits to its organization, which as the message indicates, is a cause of concern for the al-Qaeda.
The message by Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who took over the reins of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011, was produced by al-Qaeda's as-Sahab media foundation. The audio was recorded this spring and was posted across radical Islamists forums on Wednesday, according to SITE intelligence groups.
"Despite the big mistakes [of the Islamic State], if I were in Iraq or Syria I would cooperate with them in killing the crusaders and secularists and Shiites even though I don't recognize the legitimacy of their state, because the matter is bigger than that," Zawahiri was quoted saying.
Both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are Sunni Muslim groups that regard Shiites as infidels. With more and more jihadi groups aligning with the Islamic State, al-Qaeda has little choice but to acknowledge its influence even if it has rejected its claim to being a caliphate.
The message by Ayman al-Zawahiri is proof to the emergence of the ISIS and how it has managed to overshadow all other established terrors groups, including the dreaded al-Qaeda.
