Thornberry says there were signs of al Qaeda and ISIS cooperation in Syria

The top GOP representative on the House Armed Services Committee said the location of the raid that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi could indicate some cooperation between ISIS and al Qaeda.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that some people expressed surprise that al-Baghdadi was found near the town of Barisha in Syria because al Qaeda was known to be present in that area.

He said it’s possible the two terrorist organizations worked together. 

{mosads}“What happens in some places is terrorist organizations that you think are rivals can actually cooperate in certain situations,” he said.

“Is that what happened here or you suspect it?” host Jake Tapper asked Thornberry.

“In that area, there were signs of al Qaeda and ISIS cooperating in a way we have not seen before,” the Republican representative responded. 

Thornberry said he brought up that the area was known for being friendly to al Qaeda “to highlight the danger of terrorism” and caution that the U.S. is not done dealing with threats from these groups.

“We’re not done with this threat,” he said.

“This is a big deal,” he added referring to al-Baghdadi ‘s death. “But we’ve got to keep the pressure on.”

President Trump confirmed Sunday the ISIS leader died after a U.S. raid pushed him to detonate a suicide vest.