ISTANBUL — Militant leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda gathered at a farmhouse in northern Syria last week and agreed to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents, a high-level Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander have told The Associated Press.
Such an accord could present new difficulties for the United States’ strategy against the Islamic State.
While warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition strike militants from the air, the Obama administration has counted on arming “moderate” rebel factions to push them back on the ground. Those rebels, already considered relatively weak and disorganized, would face far stronger opposition if the two heavy-hitting militant groups are working together.
The Islamic State has seized nearly a third of Syria and Iraq with a campaign of brutality and beheadings this year. Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, known as the Nusra Front, has fought the Islamic State for more than a year to dominate the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Their new agreement, according to the sources in rebel groups opposed to both the Islamic State and Nusra Front, would involve a promise to stop fighting and team up in attacks in some areas of northern Syria.
Cooperation, however, would fall short of unifying the rival groups, and experts think any pact between the two sides easily could unravel.
U.S. intelligence officials have been watching the groups closely and say a full merger is not expected soon — if ever.
A U.S. official with access to intelligence about Syria said the American intelligence community has not seen any indications of a shift in the two groups’ strategy but added that he could not rule out tactical deals on the ground. The official insisted on anonymity because he said he was not authorized to speak publicly about the subject.
