Germany’s foreign intelligence service BND has resumed cooperation with the Syrian secret service in the fight against the terrorist extremists.

Germany's foreign intelligence service BND has resumed cooperation with the Syrian secret service in the fight against the terrorist extremists, according to a newspaper report Friday.

The report by Bild newspaper, citing unnamed "informed sources", said BND agents had been travelling regularly to Damascus for talks with their Syrian counterparts and that the service wanted to reopen an office there.

The aim was to exchange information on extremists, and to open a channel of communication in the event of a crisis, such as a German Tornado pilot being shot down over territory held by terrorists.

Germany has deployed Tornado surveillance aircraft and other non-combat military support to the US-led coalition fighting the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group, which controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq.
Agents could potentially move into the German embassy, which is currently closed, Bild reported, and Merkel’s government wanted to make a final decision at the start of next year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has argued the world must seek a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict to end the killing there, to better focus on fighting ISIL, and to reduce massive refugee flows to Europe.