The director of U.S. National Intelligence has said that he does not believe that the Islamic State (IS) and al Qaeda are teaming up and joining forces.
According to CBS News, James Clapper said that there have been tactical accommodations on the battlefield wherein the local groups have united in the interest of a tactical objective but he does not see the two terrorist groups uniting.
It is the first time that a senior intelligence official has commented on such reports.
IS militants have taken over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in the recent past.
A United Nations report says that the IS is imposing a "rule of terror" and committing war crimes in areas it controls in Syria.
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