Al Qa’ida is trying to regain its primacy over international militancy as the Islamic State loses ground, a senior NATO official said on Tuesday. “While [the Islamic State] has occupied the world’s attention for the last four-five years, al Qa’ida has been quietly rebuilding its global networks and capabilities,” said Arndt von Loringhoven, NATO’s assistant secretary general for intelligence and security. He also forecasted a potentially increased risk to the West from the groups’ rivalry. “Rather like [the Islamic State], al Qa’ida’s strategic aim is to regain leadership of like-minded militants and extremists. The competition for legitimacy, affiliates, and recruits among the two major global extremist groups potentially increases the terrorism threat to NATO and our partners,” he said. He also discussed the Islamic State’s attempt to win over women that, when considered with an assessment from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness about al Qa’ida’s own efforts targeting this demographic, speaks even more to the rivalry between these groups. “A very worrisome trend is [the Islamic State’s] concerted effort to use propaganda to radicalize women and minors, who have emerged as a new target for recruitment relatively recently,” von Loringhoven noted. Reuters.