‘Iraqi al-Qaeda helps Syria militants’

The al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq have been increasingly cooperating with the foreign-backed militants in Syria over the past few months, Iraqi intelligence officials say.

According to the Iraqi authorities, al-Qaeda in Iraq was facilitating the al-Nusra Front terrorist group in Syria, which emerged in mid-2012 to fight against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The sources also stated that the two terrorist groups shared three military training compounds, as well as intelligence, logistics and weapons along the border region between Syria and Iraq.

Pointing to the border region between Iraq and Syria, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Moussawi recently said, “We are very concerned about the security situation in Iraq… This area is a nest of terrorist cells.”

Meanwhile, a Jordanian intelligence official, whose name was not mentioned in the report, said al-Qaeda in Iraq was helping the al-Nusra Front with “all possible means, including weapons, fighters and training.”

“During training, Nusra elements are taught how to fire rockets and machine guns, maneuver in the desert terrain and handle arms supply to its in-the-field fighters,” the official said, adding that the training was conducted in “temporary camps in a no-man’s land along the Syrian-Iraqi border.”

The Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for many of the bombings and attacks inside Syria.

According to the Iraqi intelligence officials, some 750 al-Nusra Front terrorists, including members from other Arab countries, were among some 2,000 foreign-backed militants based along the Syrian border with Iraq.