In the latest in a string of public interviews with al-Jazeera, Syrian al-Qaeda leader Abu Mohamed Bolani talked up the likelihood of increased fighting with ISIS, saying there was no prospect for peace with the Islamist group any time soon.
“We hope they repent to God and return to their senses… if not then there is nothing but fighting between us,” Bolani insisted, adding there is “no solution” in the meantime.
ISIS was originally al-Qaeda’s Iraq faction, but expanded into Syria during the civil war. They then tried to absorb al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian faction, but only absorbed a fraction of a group, starting direct fighting with the remnants that has killed hundreds.
It hadn’t mattered much until recently, as ISIS had a huge territory and Nusra had only a handful of towns. Increasingly, however, Nusra is establishing its own “emirate” in the northwest, and as those two territories approach one another, the risk of another major border war looms large.