Friday, May 11, 2007
Nine employees of the MOI and MOD executed by Islamic State of Iraq
Insurgency
(SITE) - The Islamic State of Iraq, through its al-Furqan Foundation for Media Production, issued to jihadist forums, Thursday, May 10, 2007, a one-minute video depicting the gunshot execution of the nine captured employees of the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Defense.
A prior video released by the group on Monday showed these individuals bound and standing in front of the Islamic State’s flag, as demands for their release within a 72-hour period were made of the Iraqi government. These demands, including the release of female Sunni Muslim prisoners and the turnover of Shi’ite police officers allegedly guilty of the rape of Sabrin al-Janabi and women in Tal Afar, mirror the demands made by the Islamic State in similar incidents for the past two months, which went unheeded.
After a message declaring that the deadline had passed and the Shari’a Court had decided to implement the “Rule of Allah” upon the captured, the scene cuts to outdoor footage of each prison bound and blindfolded, and shot in the back of the head one-by-one by the executioner.
The group behind the executions also demanded that the government hand over officers it said were involved in the killing of Sunni Muslims in the northern town of Tal Afar but gave no details of the events. An old audio recording from a statement by Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, al-Qaeda's Iraq wing leader, was edited into the tape, calling for retaliation after the alleged rape.
"Destroy their checkpoints, invade their camps, severe their limbs, wrench their hearts out of their bodies. Today is the day of battle. Today we wipe off the disgrace. Today we shed blood," he said. On April 19, the group issued a video showing the killing of another group of 20 Iraqi soldiers and policemen who it claimed to have kidnapped in retaliation for the rape.
"Destroy their checkpoints, invade their camps, severe their limbs, wrench their hearts out of their bodies. Today is the day of battle. Today we wipe off the disgrace. Today we shed blood," he said. On April 19, the group issued a video showing the killing of another group of 20 Iraqi soldiers and policemen who it claimed to have kidnapped in retaliation for the rape.
Labels: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Al-Furqan Foundation, Interior Ministry forces, Islamic State of Iraq, Sabrin al-Janabi
Friday, April 27, 2007
Islamic State of Iraq claims killing of Yazidis
Insurgency
The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgency group consisting of various jihadi factions including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued several communiqués to jihadist forums between on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, and Thursday 26th, claiming a litany of operations and denying claims by the enemy military. In four of these messages, one of which contains a 1:36 minute video produced by the group’s al-Furqan Foundation for Media Production, the Islamic State claims the destruction of an American minesweeper of the type-RG-13 Nayala in Baghdad, a suicide bombing striking an Iraqi police checkpoint in the area of al-Bufraj in al-Ramadi, and killing 26 Yazidi people from the area of Bashika responsible for stoning to death a woman who converted to Islam.
Also, the group’s Ministry of War, which is head by the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, clarifies that a commander from their group was indeed killed by enemy forces in al-Anbar, but he was merely an emir of one of their brigades, not the Emir of the Western region as was claimed.
The attack on the people of the Yazidi religion in Bashika, near al-Mosul, is based on the stoning death of a woman from these people who converted to Islam. The text of the message provides a rendition of the murder, and threatens all “worshippers of Satan” to committed the act. The group’s killing of 26 Yazidis is indicated to be only part of the revenge operations for the Muslim woman. Also, the Islamic State further attempts to claim legitimacy as a governing and security entity by calling upon all converts from the Yazidi religion to seek its protection and care, reminding that the police in Bashika did not keep the safety of the woman; rather, they delivered her to her executioners.
The attack on the people of the Yazidi religion in Bashika, near al-Mosul, is based on the stoning death of a woman from these people who converted to Islam. The text of the message provides a rendition of the murder, and threatens all “worshippers of Satan” to committed the act. The group’s killing of 26 Yazidis is indicated to be only part of the revenge operations for the Muslim woman. Also, the Islamic State further attempts to claim legitimacy as a governing and security entity by calling upon all converts from the Yazidi religion to seek its protection and care, reminding that the police in Bashika did not keep the safety of the woman; rather, they delivered her to her executioners.
Labels: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al-Furqan Foundation, Bashika, Islamic State of Iraq, Yazidis
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
CFR - Al Qaeda in Iraq is growing in strength
Security, Insurgency
(Council on Foreign Relations) - As al-Qaeda grows more diffuse, its franchise operations in places like Iraq appear to be gaining in strength and numbers. Across the country, suicide attacks against civilians are up in recent months, according to a March study by the Gulf Research Center, a Middle East policy institute. The latest attacks, many of which were carried out by al-Qaeda’s foreign fighters, have been timed to undermine the U.S.-led surge of additional forces into central Iraq.
(Council on Foreign Relations) - As al-Qaeda grows more diffuse, its franchise operations in places like Iraq appear to be gaining in strength and numbers. Across the country, suicide attacks against civilians are up in recent months, according to a March study by the Gulf Research Center, a Middle East policy institute. The latest attacks, many of which were carried out by al-Qaeda’s foreign fighters, have been timed to undermine the U.S.-led surge of additional forces into central Iraq.
The organization is also increasingly carrying out attacks using multiple bombs, the report finds. Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s ranks may have swelled to as many as 60,000 fighters, according to a January 2007 Center for Strategic and International Studies report. Frustratingly for U.S.-led stabilization efforts, al-Qaeda in Iraq appears to be both more fragmented and more effective, as this new Backgrounder points out. Another disturbing trend: the growing use of chlorine-laden bombs (Counterterrorismblog.org). As Army Major General Michael D. Barbero points out, these are the first poison gas attacks (U.S. Army News) on the Iraqi people since Saddam Hussein.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces opponents other than just U.S.-led forces. Zeyad Kasim, a U.S.-based Iraqi blogger, writes that a handful of local armed Sunni groups in Iraq may be severing their ties with al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi reportedly holds secret talks with insurgency leaders. There are also reports of locals and tribal leaders of Anbar Province feuding with foreign members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Sunni-versus-Sunni violence (MEMRI) continues to escalate.
Of course, rumors of al-Qaeda’s demise have been grossly exaggerated before. Indeed, its tensions with Sunni groups are nothing new and stretch back to December 2005, when al-Qaeda leaders threatened Sunnis against voting in parliamentary elections. Then again, after last summer’s death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reports surfaced of the organization’s eventual downfall, as this Backgrounder notes. Zarqawi’s successor, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has kept a lower profile. Yet all the while he has proven effective at encouraging not just sectarian violence, but also Sunni-versus-Sunni violence. “Al-Qaeda is attempting to destroy any resistance in the Sunni community to the Islamic State of Iraq,” writes Bill Roggio in the Weekly Standard.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces opponents other than just U.S.-led forces. Zeyad Kasim, a U.S.-based Iraqi blogger, writes that a handful of local armed Sunni groups in Iraq may be severing their ties with al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi reportedly holds secret talks with insurgency leaders. There are also reports of locals and tribal leaders of Anbar Province feuding with foreign members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Sunni-versus-Sunni violence (MEMRI) continues to escalate.
Of course, rumors of al-Qaeda’s demise have been grossly exaggerated before. Indeed, its tensions with Sunni groups are nothing new and stretch back to December 2005, when al-Qaeda leaders threatened Sunnis against voting in parliamentary elections. Then again, after last summer’s death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, reports surfaced of the organization’s eventual downfall, as this Backgrounder notes. Zarqawi’s successor, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has kept a lower profile. Yet all the while he has proven effective at encouraging not just sectarian violence, but also Sunni-versus-Sunni violence. “Al-Qaeda is attempting to destroy any resistance in the Sunni community to the Islamic State of Iraq,” writes Bill Roggio in the Weekly Standard.
Labels: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, Al Qaeda, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Gulf Research Center, Islamic State of Iraq, multiple bombs, suicide attacks, Tariq al-Hashimi
Monday, March 05, 2007
In execution tape, Islamic State of Iraq threatens worse attacks
Insurgents, Security
(SITE) Iraq, issued to jihadist forums on Saturday, March 3, 2007, the execution video of the eighteen captured employees of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. The Islamic State had announced the capture of these individuals on Thursday, March 1, claiming it to be primarily in response to the rape accusations of a Sunni woman, Sabrin al-Janabi, towards Shi’ite security forces. In that prior message, two demands were made of the Iraqi government to secure the release of these men within a 24-hour period. The following day, the group issued a second statement, announcing that due to the refusal of the Iraqi government to negotiate for the release, instead being “arrogant”, the Shari’a Courts of the Islamic State of Iraq ordered the execution of Allah’s Orders on the captured employees.
The video opens with footage of the men blindfolded and sitting in rows, and a message is shown on-screen that is also dictated. Its words are similar to those of the two prior statements, but add that the Mujahideen rose to action after the appeal of the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, which he presented in an audio message addressing Sabrin. They add: “This operation is only a drop in the bucket, and what will come is more wicked and bitter, with the permission of Allah the Almighty.”
Following the message, a number of the captured men, blindfolded and bound, are shown shot repeatedly with pistols by the masked Mujahideen. Also, the Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement today indicating that fourteen other employees of the Ministry of Interior were captured on Thursday, March 1, and “Allah’s Orders” were also executed upon them.
The video opens with footage of the men blindfolded and sitting in rows, and a message is shown on-screen that is also dictated. Its words are similar to those of the two prior statements, but add that the Mujahideen rose to action after the appeal of the Emir of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, which he presented in an audio message addressing Sabrin. They add: “This operation is only a drop in the bucket, and what will come is more wicked and bitter, with the permission of Allah the Almighty.”
Following the message, a number of the captured men, blindfolded and bound, are shown shot repeatedly with pistols by the masked Mujahideen. Also, the Islamic State of Iraq issued a statement today indicating that fourteen other employees of the Ministry of Interior were captured on Thursday, March 1, and “Allah’s Orders” were also executed upon them.
Labels: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, execution video, Interior Ministry forces, Islamic State of Iraq, Mujahideen, rape, Sabrin al-Janabi
