Search

Prior to the 2011 political unrest in the Middle East, Al-Qaeda had been the hegemon in the global jihadism until its offspring the Islamic State in Iraq shot into fame through their spectacular military successes in Iraq and Syria, throwing a challenge to Al-Qaeda. The feat of the Islamic State attracted a lot of foreign fighters to join them. The relationship between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State became more acrimonious when the Islamic State rebranded and called itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). As was expected, these developments caused concerns among leaders of Al-Qaeda who felt their monopoly over global jihad was slipping out of their hands. Though the affiliates of these two groups fought each other in every theater they met, their Sahel affiliates, Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS), and Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) in Northwest Africa had a cooperative relationship until 2019. While Al-Qaeda embarks on preaching Islam to the people in its areas of jurisdiction, ISIS focuses on seizing territories. This series of events has created problems between the two prominent terrorist groups of which none is ready to accept the other's supremacy. Brigadier General, Ghana Army Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.