ISIS vs. AL QAEDA: Which is more dangerous?

By: Rajiv K Mishra

LEADERSHIP

Al Qaeda

-          Scattered & often confusing leadership with Ayman al-Zawahiri at the core.

ISIS

-          Tightly-knit military council under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that makes all the group's strategic decisions

MANPOWER

Al Qaeda

-          Is facing dwindling manpower resource and believes in guerilla warfare. Left with few thousand fighters.

ISIS

-          Has more than 1 lakh active fighters and growing

SHIA MUSLIMS

Al Qaeda

-          Believes killing Shia Muslims could be counterproductive

ISIS

-          Have targeted Shiite Muslims

TACTICS

Al Qaeda

-          Relatively less brutal than ISIS

ISIS

-          Very brutal to be repulsive

ISLAMIC CALIPHATE

Al Qaeda

-          Ledership believes caliphate will emerge only after the wider Muslim world has been purified, and that establishing it requires social consensus.

ISIS

-          Believes in sectarian divides

FINANCES

Al Qaeda

-          Dwindling fast after killing of Osama Bin Laden.

ISIS

-          As per Iraqi intelligence the organization had assets worth US$2 billion making it richest jihadist group in the world

EQUIPMENTS

Al Qaeda

-          Mainly small ammunitions like AKs rifles, bombs, machine guns, sniper rifles, mortar shells, mines etc.

ISIS

-          Has acquired many mainstream heavy battle machines including battle tanks, rockets, short range anti-tank missiles.

MEDIA

Al Qaeda

-          Believes in traditional medium to reach people; occasionally uses social media

ISIS

-          More media savvy. Advertises its projects on social media. Never forget to chronicle its brutality.