Al Qaeda leaders admit 'rapidly rising' IS has 'stolen its thunder'

Two of Al Qaeda's spiritual leaders have admitted that the Islamic State (IS) has gotten the better of the terror outfit, with it barely functioning after losing money and manpower to its rapidly rising adversary.

While pointing out that the terror group now lacked 'organisational structure,' Abu Qatada and Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi said that Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri was isolated from his top lieutenants and operated solely on the basis of allegiance, reported Fox News.

Qatada, who was deported to Jordan from Britain in 2013 over terrorism charges, acknowledged that the IS had beaten Al Qaeda in both the propaganda wars as well as those fought on the battlefield.

Dr. Munif Samara, an Al Qaeda associate, also questioned the utility of the leadership if the leader was in Afghanistan while the soldiers fought in Iraq.

A former Al Qaeda member, who later served as a British intelligence agent, said that the group was so cash-strapped at a time that the members were forced to sell their laptops and cars to buy food and pay rent.