News Update

On February 2, al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri announced he has broken ties with the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, better known as ISIS. ISIS was originally formed in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, but pushed into Syria with the goal of turning the country into an Islamic caliphate. The group's brutality and ruthlessness, even with civilians, did not go over well, though. In recent weeks, ISIS has battled more moderate rebel groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's original Syria franchise. The schism between Al-Qaeda groups in Syria is a big deal, FDD's Daveed Gartenstein-Ross says.