The growing rivalry between ISIS and Al Qaeda reached new heights this weekend, with reports that ISIS has begun distributing “Wanted Dead” posters for key Al Qaeda commanders, including the terror network’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
The posters first appeared in early August and were created by ISIS’ official branch in Libya. ISIS has been waging a war on other militias for control of the North African country, which is now in a state of lawlessness after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The initial stages of the campaign saw dozens of posters released offering large bounties for the heads of the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC). The MSC is an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist faction that is currently struggling with ISIS for control of the eastern Libyan city of Derna.
The MSC has proven a formidable adversary and has prevented ISIS’ attempts to take the city so far.
Yet several of its leaders have indeed been successfully assassinated since the bounty program started. The Long War Journal reported that “each time one is killed, the Islamic State’s supporters release a new version of the graphic, changing the format and color to signify his death.”
The posters also carry rewards for the heads of other Libyan militia leaders.
The program has been so successful for ISIS that it has expanded it beyond Libya, to include the leader of Algeria’s Al Qaeda branch.
On Sunday, ISIS issued the most provocative poster yet, putting a bounty on the head of Al Qaeda’s elusive leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Al-Zawahiri took over after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden by U.S. Special Forces in 2011.
ISIS officially broke off from Al Qaeda during February of 2014, over a drawn out power struggle between al Zawahiri and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who now controls ISIS.
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