According to Russian Major General Igor Konashenkov, they have intercepted some communications between al-Qaeda’s Syria faction, Jabhat al-Nusra, and ISIS on the topic of unifying against the Syrian military offensive in the Aleppo Province.

Ironically, this unification was supposed to happen years ago, as back in 2013 ISIS (then still al-Qaeda in Iraq) claimed it was absorbing the Nusra forces. This split Nusra roughly in half, with some joining ISIS and others remaining independent. The two sides have remained hostile ever since.

There was some discussion of revisiting the idea of unity last year, when US warplanes started bombing both in Syria, and at the time was presented as a possible way of countering the US, though nothing ever came of the matter.

Russia’s involvement may be pushing some discussions again, and al-Qaeda has likewise suggested unity was a possibility. in recent months, though the two factions are at odds on a lot of issues, and anything more than a temporary alliance seems unlikely.