En Route to Useful Syria: Al-Qaeda Back in the Game?

... Russian air strikes targeted with the help of Syrian intelligence, and ISIS gained some ground in the north. Jabhat al-Nusra: the Inception Jabhat al-Nusra was originally connected to central al-Qaeda and emerged out of its Iraqi branch, the former al-Qaeda of Iraq in 2004, which in 2006 transformed into the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). By 2011, Syria became the main jihadist hub and the foundation for recruiting jihadists after the U.S. invasion in Iraq in 2003. During this period, the insurgents established routes for delivering human and material resources,...