Al-Qaeda–Islamic State conflict

The Al-Qaeda–Islamic State conflict is an ongoing conflict between Al-Qaeda and its allied groups, and the Islamic State.

On 8 April 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, released an audio statement in which he claimed that the Islamic State of Iraq, and Al-Nusra Front, two Al-Qaeda affiliated groups, were merging into one group called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.^[13] Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of al-Nusra Front, and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al-Qaeda, both rejected the merge. Al-Julani claimed that he and all the other al-Nusra leaders had never gave permission to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to merge the groups.^[14]

Ayman al-Zawahiri wrote a letter to both Al-Julani and al-Baghdadi, who were both under his command at the time, in which he stated that he does not permit them to merge.^[15] He also sent a diplomat to put an end to tensions. al-Baghdadi responded to al-Zawahiri's letter, and declared that he did not need al-Zawahiri's approval to do the merge, and that he was moving forward with the merge either way.^[16] The merge happened, with the Islamic State of Iraq and some Al-Nusra fighters merging to form the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Al-Nusra's leadership, as well as Al-Qaeda, both officially rejected the merge, in which the tension resulted in the newly founded ISIL being isolated from the global jihadist network, which was dominated by Al-Qaeda.^[17][18]

In October 2013, months after the merge, al-Zawahiri gave al-Baghdadi a final chance to disband ISIL, and return the jihadist movement in Syria to al-Nusra, and revive the Islamic State of Iraq and let it take control of the jihadist movement in Iraq.^[19] al-Baghdadi refused to comply with al-Zawahiri, and ISIL continued to operate in both Iraq and Syria.^[16] In February 2014, after eight months of tension, in which ISIL constantly refused to comply with al-Qaeda's demands, al-Qaeda officially disavowed themself from ISIL, and cut all ties with them, beginning their enmity.^[20]

On 29 June 2014, ISIL changed its name to the "Islamic State", and declared its lands as a caliphate with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the caliph.^[21][22] As a "Caliphate", it claimed authority over all Muslims and Muslim lands worldwide.^[23] The Islamic State's claim of being a legitimate Islamic caliphate was rejected by many Muslims, and was also rejected by Al-Qaeda.^{[24][25][26][27][28]}

The Islamic State was described as being "far more ruthless" than al-Qaeda.^[29] For example, while Al-Qaeda considers Shia Muslims to be disbelievers, they have also condemned the Islamic State's killing sprees against Shias. Osama bin Laden, despite his hatred for Shias, wanted to put the differences aside to establish a Sunni-Shia alliance to counter the supposed Jewish-Christian alliance which he claims was made to fight Islam. The Islamic State does not tolerate Shias at all.^[30]

Since its establishment, the Islamic State was hostile to Al-Qaeda and its allies, including the Taliban. The conflict between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State conflict was also referred to as the "Jihadist civil war".^[31]

Also, since the establishment of the Islamic State, many Al-Qaeda affiliated groups became fractured, with certain factions of the groups pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, while the rest opposed the Islamic State. These groups include Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan,^[3] Boko Haram,^[32] the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,^[33] the Caucasus Emirate,^[34] Abu Sayyaf,^[35] Ansar Bait al-Maqdis,^[36] the Uqba ibn Nafi Brigade, and Al-Shabaab.^[37]

The first instance of the conflict was during the rise of the Islamic State in northern and western Iraq in 2014. During that time, the vast majority of Kurdish jihadists belonged to either Ansar al-Islam, or the Kurdistan Brigades of Al-Qaeda, which was closely allied to Ansar al-Islam. When the Islamic State expanded closer to Kurdistan, Ansar al-Islam considered it a challenge to their hegemony and began attacking Islamic State positions. The clashes continued for months, in which the Islamic State dominated. Some Ansar al-Islam militants and commanders later joined the Islamic State.^[38][39][40] Ansar al-Islam later drastically declined, although remained active and continued to fight the Islamic State.^[41]

Initially, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula did not oppose the Islamic State, and many AQAP members actually supported the Islamic State and its establishment of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the former leader of AQAP, also intended to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State if they came to Yemen. However, when the Islamic State – Yemen Province was established in 2015, AQAP remained with al-Qaeda, and some AQAP members defected to ISYP. This brought the al-Qaeda–Islamic State conflict to Yemen.^[42][43] These two groups continued to clash throughout the Yemeni civil war.^[44]

The Islamic State–Taliban conflict started in early February 2015, when the Islamic State – Khorasan Province came to Afghanistan, killing a Taliban commander in the process. The Taliban responded by killing or capturing over 65 Islamic State militants.^[45][46]

Al-Qaeda affiliates and the Islamic State fight against each other in the Syrian civil war, at the same time while fighting the Syrian opposition.^[47] Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State also fight on opposing sides in the Mali War and the Boko Haram insurgency.^[48]

During the Derna campaign, pro-Al-Qaeda militants successfully broke the Islamic State in Libya's siege on Derna and began fighting the Islamic State all around Libya.^[49]

In May 2021, the Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) launched an invasion of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, Nigeria, which was serving as the main base of Boko Haram, a rival jihadist rebel group. Following heavy fighting, ISWAP overran the Boko Haram troops, cornering their leader Abubakar Shekau. The two sides entered negotiations about Boko Haram's surrender during which Shekau committed suicide, possibly detonating himself with a suicide vest. Shekau's death was regarded as a major event by outside observers, as he had been one of the main driving forces in the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria and neighboring countries since 2009.^[50][51]

• Hashim, Ahmed S. (2018). The Caliphate at War. Operational Realities and Innovations of the Islamic State. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-066848-8.
• Lister, Charles R. (2015). The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-019046247-5.
• Staffell, Simon; Awan, Akil N. (2016). Jihadism Transformed: Al-Qaeda and Islamic State's Global Battle of Ideas. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190650292.
• Weiss, Michael; Hassan, Hassan (2016) [2015]. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (Updated 2nd ed.). London; New York City: Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-1941393574.