Britain’s Sky News claims it has uncovered documents that suggest the Syrian government has struck a number of deals with the so-called Islamic State.
In an exclusive report published Monday, Sky News said its investigation found evidence the government of President Bashar al-Assad reached an agreement with the Islamic State, also referred to as ISIS, to pull its weapons and fighters out of the ancient city of Palmyra ahead of a military advance in March.
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“Withdraw all heavy artillery and anti-aircraft machine guns from in and around Palmyra to Raqqa province,” Sky News reported one of the documents reading.
Sky News reported the documents we obtained by an ISIS defector. The news outlet said the files its reporter viewed were copies of handwritten documents.
“The authenticity of the latest documents is impossible to verify, but all previous leaks of material funneled through this group have proved to be genuine,” Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay wrote.
Other accusations of collusion between the Assad regime and ISIS include an allegation the government traded fertilizer for oil and that there were “arrangements” made to evacuate ISIS-held areas prior to government attacks.
Although the Russian-led airstrikes reportedly weakened the militant group, Russian forces also targeted other enemies of the regime — rebel groups the government wants to drive out of key locations.
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University of Calgary’s Michael Zekulin said it’s not unexpected there could be some arrangements being made between the government and ISIS, especially given the militant group isn’t the biggest threat to Assad maintaining his grip on power after five years of brutal civil war.
Zekulin used the adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” to explain the prospect of cooperation between two adversaries, such as the regime and ISIS, cooperating and explained how this scenario has happened at times between ISIS and another one of its rivals.
ISIS, a disavowed al-Qaeda affiliate, and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria have fought each other on the front line, but “in certain parts of Syria it made sense for the local branches of those groups to not antagonize each other,” Zekulin said.
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But, Zekulin questions how high up in the ranks this deal-making is actually happening: whether the documents are high-level communiqués between Assad and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or instances of wheeling and dealing on the ground.
Sky News doesn’t specify who’s behind the documents that suggest there is collusion between the regime and ISIS, but the report claims they were “orders sent from Islamic State headquarters” in Raqqa, Syria.
The Sky News investigation comes as a new round of talks aims to resume a cessation in fighting between Syrian forces and rebel groups — particularly in the rebel-held city of Aleppo, where the regime was accused of bombing a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital and Canadian-supported health clinic last week.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry planned to speak Monday with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, about proposals to stave off the violence.
Zekulin said the Sky News claims should “warrant a rethink” of how to deal with the Syrian crisis and any possible political solution.
With a file from The Associated Press
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