Iraq’s Al-Qaeda confirms ties with Syrian rebel Nusra Front

[DV RULES]

Iraqi Al-Qaeda has confirmed the Syrian hardcore rebel group the Nusra Front is a branch of its organisation, according to the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.

SITE quotes leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, as saying that his Islamist group and Syria’s Nusra Front will now operate jointly under the name of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.

The confirmation comes days after Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman Zawahiri urged supporters to go to Syria and establish an Islamist state there.

Experts have long warned that Nusra Front, which was blacklisted by the US as a terrorist organization, has strong links with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and probably predominantly consists of Al-Qaeda fighters, who moved into Syria to capitalize on the turmoil in the country.

The group has gained much power in Syria through engaging in combat directly against government troops and local militias allied with it. It claimed responsibility for a number of deadly suicide bombings in the country, which claimed hundreds of civilian lives.

The organization is estimated to have 5,000 troops in its ranks.

The influence of Nusra Front was named by the US as a key reason why it does not supply arms to the Free Syrian Army, the relatively moderate and secular anti-government armed group in Syria. Washington was concerned the shipments would end up in the hands of the terrorists and used against Americans and their allies.

Iraq

 

[JUBA]

Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammed Al-Joulani officially deny it,

hope you speak Arabic.

 

[Hussein]

Al-Qaeda in Iraq confirms link with Syria’s al-Nusra

The al-Nusra Front, one of the major players in the Syrian opposition, and al-Qaeda in Iraq, the hard-line Salafist group responsible for scores of attacks against US forces and international aid groups in Iraq, are essentially one and the same and will begin joint operations under a new name, “The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant,” Reuters reported on Tuesday.

“It’s now time to declare in front of the people of the Levant and (the) world that the al-Nusra Front is but an extension of the Islamic State of Iraq and part of it,” said al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Monday, using an alternative name for al-Qaeda in Iraq, according the SITE monitoring service.

Experts have long suspected that al-Nusra, which the US State Department has labeled a terrorist organization, is linked to Islamic forces in Iraq.

Nusra Front’s presence on the battlefield complicates desperately needed international support for Syrian rebels, because foreign backers do not want to bolster Islamic extremist groups, and is seen as the main reason the US has been reluctant to arm the Syrian rebels.

 

[Infoman]

These rebels are Al-Qaeda terrorrists and have their sights on killing Syrians.

 

[Syrian Lion]

From the beginning F$A is Alqaeda, however the west created the name F$A to manipulate people

BBC News - Syria crisis: Al-Nusra pledges allegiance to al-Qaeda

Syrian Islamist group acknowledges ties to Al Qaeda - latimes.com

Al Qaeda Declares Stake in Syrian Rebellion - Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

We still don't know if that's %100 true or not. Let just wait and see.

 

[Alshawi1234]

This isn't a "secret", it is well known in Iraq, there are intelligence reports flying all over the place in Iraq that they cooperate on numerous fields; weapons, training... nothing new about it. its a fact that has been happening for a few months now.

 

[Karasonmuno]

Syria, Syria...so much bloodshed.

 

[mohsen]

We still don't know if that's %100 true or not. Let just wait and see.

yeah, you wait for Alarabiah confirmation.