Friday, August 17, 2007
Ansar al-Sunnah post video on internet of Defense Ministry official's execution
Insurgency
(Stratfor) - Iraqi insurgent group Ansar al-Sunnah on Aug. 17 posted a video on the Internet that purportedly shows the execution of an Iraqi Defense Ministry official accused of working with U.S. forces. The video also shows the kidnappers holding up an identification card that allowed the victim access to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. The authenticity of the video has not been independently verified.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, execution, Iraqi Defense Ministry official
Friday, July 20, 2007
Group splits from Islamic Army in Iraq which highlights importance of working with tribes
Insurgency, Tribal
(RFE/RL) - A group calling itself the Al-Furqan Army has announced its decision to split from the Islamic Army in Iraq, claiming that the Islamic Army has engaged in the political process through talks with the U.S. military, Al-Jazeera television reported on July 18. Islamic Army in Iraq spokesman Ibrahim al-Shammari told Al-Jazeera in an interview that the Al-Furqan Army is "a very small group," adding that the split came after the Al-Furqan Army adopted "policies that go against the Islamic Army's" stance.
Despite the apparent tensions, al-Shammari expressed disappointment over the split, saying: "We wish that the number of mujahedin increase, but not under pseudonyms. Separation is not the character of Islamic action." Al-Shammari also denied that the Islamic Army in Iraq engaged in any talks with the U.S. military. He said the army's position that the Iraqi people are free to choose whether or not to participate in the political process through the Iraqi Accordance Front is well-known. That position, he maintained, does not conflict with the group's determination to fight U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The Islamic Army in Iraq's online bimonthly magazine, "Al-Fursan" (The Knights), noted in its July issue, posted on the Internet on July 17, that the Jihad and Reform Front will work to establish better relations with tribal leaders. The front was formed in May by brigades from the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Mujahedin Army, and the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army.
An unidentified editor wrote in the magazine that establishing better relations with the tribes is a "key priority" of the front, and should be handled carefully. The writer stressed the importance of the tribes in sheltering insurgents. He criticized the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq for harming relations between insurgents and tribes, saying the Islamic State's reckless behavior has prompted some tribes to begin working with U.S. and Iraqi forces to fight the insurgency.
Labels: Al-Furqan Army, Al-Fursan, Ansar al-Sunnah, Ibrahim al-Shammari, Iraqi Accordance Front, Islamic Army in Iraq, Jihad and Reform Front, Mujahideen Army, tribal leaders, U.S. military
Thursday, May 17, 2007
The growing threat facing Kurdistan
Kurdistan, Security
(RFE/RL) - Two high-profile bomb attacks targeting Kurdish institutions this month have drawn attention to security in the region, which had escaped much of the violence plaguing other areas in Iraq. But threats against the Kurds from Al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups have been growing.
The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for both attacks in Internet postings. In a statement on the May 9 attack, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group said the attack came "in response to the participation of the apostate peshmerga forces with the Safawi [a reference to the Shi'ite-led government in Iraq] government of [Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri] al-Maliki in the so-called 'Baghdad law enforcement plan.'"
Addressing Kurdistan region President Mas'ud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the group promised more attacks, adding, "We will not stop attacking you until you withdraw your mercenaries from the Baghdad province and cease to support the Crusaders [U.S.-led coalition forces] and the Safawis."
The Islamic State of Iraq first warned Kurdish soldiers against taking part in the Baghdad security plan in January. "We tell you that the martyrs brigades of the Islamic State of Iraq, particularly the Ansar martyrs [a reference to the terrorist group Ansar Al-Islam, whose bases in Kurdistan were crushed by a U.S. bombing campaign in the opening days of the war] cannot wait to confront you as to speed your arrival in hell," an Internet statement said.
The Kata'ib Kurdistan (Kurdistan Brigades), a group that pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in March, also claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted to the Ansar Al-Islam website, the news website Kurdish Aspect reported on May 10. The brigades are reportedly part of Ansar Al-Islam, which is aligned with Al-Qaeda.
According to Kurdish Aspect, a source from within the Kurdish peshmerga said that Ansar Al-Islam and the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army are reorganizing their ranks and deploying their forces along the Iran-Iraq border. Kurdish leaders have also attributed recent attacks against Kurdish forces in the town of Penjwin to Ansar Al-Islam, saying the group moves freely across the Iran-Iraq border. Kurdish security sources told local media that the KRG was on alert for a terrorist attack in the days preceding the two incidents, based on intelligence that included detained terrorists' confessions, as well as the discovery of weapons caches.
Observations of websites and forums frequented by insurgents in Iraq and their supporters suggest that indeed, the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar Al-Islam/Sunnah are attempting to gain a foothold on areas in the north. Apart from their stated claim of seeking retribution against the Kurds, their presence in the north would provide them with a valuable gateway for foreign fighters and supplies through the porous Iran-Iraq border.
The resurgence of insurgent activity in Kurdistan can be seen in the plethora of statements appearing on insurgent websites and forums in recent weeks, and Kata'ib Kurdistan has issued at least one video documenting its attacks. Moreover, Kurdish-language statements have appeared on forum websites with increasing frequency, suggesting insurgents may be trying to recruit Kurdish fighters to join their cause.
The frequency of attacks against Kurdish targets both in the Kurdish region and neighboring governorates to the south suggest that Kurds will remain under fire for some time to come. The potential consequences of an Al-Qaeda/Ansar campaign would be devastating to the region's economy, stability and governance. It could prompt Turkey to carry out plans for a large-scale incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan to hunt down PKK militants based there. Or worse yet, Turkey might take steps to secure Turkoman control over Kirkuk, a move that would evoke a violent reaction from Iraqi Kurds.
The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for both attacks in Internet postings. In a statement on the May 9 attack, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group said the attack came "in response to the participation of the apostate peshmerga forces with the Safawi [a reference to the Shi'ite-led government in Iraq] government of [Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri] al-Maliki in the so-called 'Baghdad law enforcement plan.'"
Addressing Kurdistan region President Mas'ud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the group promised more attacks, adding, "We will not stop attacking you until you withdraw your mercenaries from the Baghdad province and cease to support the Crusaders [U.S.-led coalition forces] and the Safawis."
The Islamic State of Iraq first warned Kurdish soldiers against taking part in the Baghdad security plan in January. "We tell you that the martyrs brigades of the Islamic State of Iraq, particularly the Ansar martyrs [a reference to the terrorist group Ansar Al-Islam, whose bases in Kurdistan were crushed by a U.S. bombing campaign in the opening days of the war] cannot wait to confront you as to speed your arrival in hell," an Internet statement said.
The Kata'ib Kurdistan (Kurdistan Brigades), a group that pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in March, also claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted to the Ansar Al-Islam website, the news website Kurdish Aspect reported on May 10. The brigades are reportedly part of Ansar Al-Islam, which is aligned with Al-Qaeda.
According to Kurdish Aspect, a source from within the Kurdish peshmerga said that Ansar Al-Islam and the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army are reorganizing their ranks and deploying their forces along the Iran-Iraq border. Kurdish leaders have also attributed recent attacks against Kurdish forces in the town of Penjwin to Ansar Al-Islam, saying the group moves freely across the Iran-Iraq border. Kurdish security sources told local media that the KRG was on alert for a terrorist attack in the days preceding the two incidents, based on intelligence that included detained terrorists' confessions, as well as the discovery of weapons caches.
Observations of websites and forums frequented by insurgents in Iraq and their supporters suggest that indeed, the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar Al-Islam/Sunnah are attempting to gain a foothold on areas in the north. Apart from their stated claim of seeking retribution against the Kurds, their presence in the north would provide them with a valuable gateway for foreign fighters and supplies through the porous Iran-Iraq border.
The resurgence of insurgent activity in Kurdistan can be seen in the plethora of statements appearing on insurgent websites and forums in recent weeks, and Kata'ib Kurdistan has issued at least one video documenting its attacks. Moreover, Kurdish-language statements have appeared on forum websites with increasing frequency, suggesting insurgents may be trying to recruit Kurdish fighters to join their cause.
The frequency of attacks against Kurdish targets both in the Kurdish region and neighboring governorates to the south suggest that Kurds will remain under fire for some time to come. The potential consequences of an Al-Qaeda/Ansar campaign would be devastating to the region's economy, stability and governance. It could prompt Turkey to carry out plans for a large-scale incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan to hunt down PKK militants based there. Or worse yet, Turkey might take steps to secure Turkoman control over Kirkuk, a move that would evoke a violent reaction from Iraqi Kurds.
Labels: Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Sunnah, bomb attacks, Iran, Islamic State of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, Kata'ib Kurdistan, KDP, KRG, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Brigades, Massoud Barzani, Peshmerga
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Suicide truck bomb kills 19 in Irbil
Security, Kurdistan
(AP) - A suicide truck bomb ripped through the Interior Ministry in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city of Irbil on Wednesday morning, killing at least 19 people and wounding 80, officials said. Kurdish officials blamed al-Qaida linked insurgents for the devastating attack.
The bombing came just as Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit that was to include meetings with top Iraqi government officials, leaders of influential Iraqi factions and the senior U.S. military commander here. Cheney's visit was aimed at encouraging rival Iraqi factions to work together to overcome their divisions to work together to end the conflict.
The explosion in Irbil, 215 miles north of Baghdad, underscored how even relatively safe areas of the country were not immune from the violence. Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, had been spared much of the violence wracking the rest of Iraq. The Interior Ministry building was badly damaged. Kurdish television showed rubble laying in piles and twisted metal beams. Rescue workers reached into the wreckage to pull out one of the victims of the blast. Windows were blown out down the street and wreckage was scattered nearly 100 yards away.
The nearby security headquarters was also damaged. Zariyan Othman, the Kurdish health minister, said 19 people were killed and 80 were wounded, including five who were in serious condition. Hamza Ahmed, a spokesman for the Irbil governor's office, said the dead and wounded included police and civilians.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman blamed the attack on Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Ansar al-Islam, a mostly Kurdish militant group with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam has been blamed for a number of attacks, including attempts to assassinate Kurdish officials. Othman said authorities learned that insurgents were planning a large attack a week ago when police arrested a militant cell in the town of Sulaimaniyah.
"During questioning they confessed that were getting training lessons in a neighboring country and that was
Iran," he said. The last major attack in Irbil took place Feb. 1, 2004, when twin suicide bombers killed 109 people in two Kurdish party offices. Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for that attack. "Kurdistan is a safe region and this will have its affect on trade, and companies will fear coming to this region," Othman said.
The bombing came just as Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Baghdad for an unannounced visit that was to include meetings with top Iraqi government officials, leaders of influential Iraqi factions and the senior U.S. military commander here. Cheney's visit was aimed at encouraging rival Iraqi factions to work together to overcome their divisions to work together to end the conflict.
The explosion in Irbil, 215 miles north of Baghdad, underscored how even relatively safe areas of the country were not immune from the violence. Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, had been spared much of the violence wracking the rest of Iraq. The Interior Ministry building was badly damaged. Kurdish television showed rubble laying in piles and twisted metal beams. Rescue workers reached into the wreckage to pull out one of the victims of the blast. Windows were blown out down the street and wreckage was scattered nearly 100 yards away.
The nearby security headquarters was also damaged. Zariyan Othman, the Kurdish health minister, said 19 people were killed and 80 were wounded, including five who were in serious condition. Hamza Ahmed, a spokesman for the Irbil governor's office, said the dead and wounded included police and civilians.
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman blamed the attack on Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni Arab insurgent group, and Ansar al-Islam, a mostly Kurdish militant group with ties to al-Qaida in Iraq. Ansar al-Islam has been blamed for a number of attacks, including attempts to assassinate Kurdish officials. Othman said authorities learned that insurgents were planning a large attack a week ago when police arrested a militant cell in the town of Sulaimaniyah.
"During questioning they confessed that were getting training lessons in a neighboring country and that was
Iran," he said. The last major attack in Irbil took place Feb. 1, 2004, when twin suicide bombers killed 109 people in two Kurdish party offices. Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for that attack. "Kurdistan is a safe region and this will have its affect on trade, and companies will fear coming to this region," Othman said.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, Dick Cheney, Irbil, Kurdistan, Ministry of Interior, suicide truck bomber, Zariyan Othman
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Ansar al-Sunnah slaughter Iraqi soldier
Insurgency
(Reuters) - An Iraqi militant group posted a video on Sunday showing an insurgent slitting the throat of a National Guard soldier in what it said was an "execution by slaughtering" for an alleged role in sectarian death squads. "After interrogating him the bureau of law and judiciary of the Ansar al-Sunna group issued a sentence that this apostate be slaughtered to become a lesson," the group said in an on-screen statement before showing the beginning of the killing.
The man, who identified himself as Shawkat Hussein Saleh al-Jubouri, was kneeling on the floor, blindfolded and wearing a uniform. Jubouri answered questions of an off-camera interrogator at gun point. He said he was a member of the National Guard then his interrogator asked if he belonged to "the death squads?", the young man answered: "Death squads...", but he did not finish his sentence when he was interrupted by the militant.
Jubouri then heard the sentence before a militant holding a knife in his right hand grabbed him by the hair and began to slit his throat. The rest of the killing was edited out by the group. Before the killing the militant praised the mujahideen as "wolves", which in Iraq indicates bravery. His remarks in several parts of the video were inaudible.
The man, who identified himself as Shawkat Hussein Saleh al-Jubouri, was kneeling on the floor, blindfolded and wearing a uniform. Jubouri answered questions of an off-camera interrogator at gun point. He said he was a member of the National Guard then his interrogator asked if he belonged to "the death squads?", the young man answered: "Death squads...", but he did not finish his sentence when he was interrupted by the militant.
Jubouri then heard the sentence before a militant holding a knife in his right hand grabbed him by the hair and began to slit his throat. The rest of the killing was edited out by the group. Before the killing the militant praised the mujahideen as "wolves", which in Iraq indicates bravery. His remarks in several parts of the video were inaudible.
Sunni Muslim militants say the country's Shi'ite-led government oversees death squads that seek to kill Sunnis or drive them out of Baghdad in a sectarian cleansing bid, a charge the government denies. Iraqi officials have said that the movement of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr group was infiltrated with what they called "rogue elements" trying to sabotage the political process and were running sectarian death squads. Anasr al-Sunna, a key Sunni Muslim insurgent group, has claimed several abductions and killings since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In March it said it killed an abducted Iraqi brigadier general for taking part in alleged attacks on Sunni Muslims.
COMMENT: Ansar al-Sunnah (Followers of the Tradition) is an Iraqi Jihadist group, dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state based on Shari’ah in Iraq, which they aim to achieve by the defeat of coalition forces and foreign occupation. They believe that jihad in Iraq has become obligatory for Muslims. The group’s membership is varied, and is comprised of operatives from the Kurdish terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam, foreign al-Qaeda operatives, and Iraqi Sunnis. Targets have included coalition military personnel, members of the Iraqi National Guard, new Iraqi governmental institutions, and Kurdish political establishments, which the group sees as puppet regimes of the American occupation. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, death squads, internet video, Shawkat Hussein Saleh al-Jubouri
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Kurdish official says Iran is sending terrorists into Kurdistan
Security, Insurgency
(AINA) - While Iran's connection to Sunni Islamist terrorism is hotly debated in Washington, it is not disputed in Iraqi Kurdistan, about 60 miles from the border with the Islamic Republic. In an interview yesterday inside his headquarters, the director of the security ministry for the Sulaimaniya province, Sarkawt Hassan Jalal, said he has no doubt Iran is helping send Sunni jihadists into his territory. He listed the five border towns on the Iranian side where he says they are based: Mariwan, Pejwan, Bokan, Sina, and Serdai.
For General Jalal, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's original group, known as Tawhid and Jihad, was sent by the Iranians and Al Qaeda to attack the Kurds and Americans. At the end of a 90-minute interview, he summed up his view of Iran as follows: "Iran is at the top of the terrorism in all the world. There will be peace in the world when you change the authorities in Iran." He is in a position to know; Kurdish Islamist groups, by his count, tried to assassinate him on three separate occasions.
Those direct public remarks are almost singularly rare for a senior Kurdish official. When American forces on January 10 seized five Iranians it claimed were members of Iran's elite Quds Force in the Kurdistan provincial capital of Irbil, Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, publicly urged the Americans to return the men he claimed were acting as diplomats. Privately, Kurdish officials say the supposed diplomats were supporting terrorists, providing maps and training, but that the raid failed to net any senior Iranian operatives despite initial intelligence suggesting the no. 3 man in the Quds Force was there.
The main threat for Iraq's Kurds here is the next generation of Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist group initially affiliated with the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, who has since been slain. In 2002, Ansar al-Islam tried to assassinate the current deputy prime minister, Barham Salih. The organization has also attacked Kurdish police chiefs. In the first days of the war, the base of the organization was destroyed at their camp in Biara, near the Kurdish town of Halabja, the site of the Iraqi army's infamous poison gas attack in 1988.
The American and Kurdish operation, known as Viking Hammer, wiped out the Ansar al-Islam base, but many of the senior leaders fled to Mariwan and the other towns on the Iranian side of the border. Since 2003, the Kurdish security services have been fighting a campaign to keep the new Islamists, who have regrouped under the banner of Ansar al-Sunna, out of Iraq and out of their territory. Today that group's Web site calls itself Al Qaeda in Kurdistan.
Military intelligence in particular has linked members of Iran's Quds Force in Iraq to supporting operations and individuals in the new Ansar al-Sunna, as The New York Sun first reported in January. On April 10, Major General William Caldwell announced that America had evidence of Iranian support and had found Iranian-produced arms in Sunni terrorist strongholds.
For General Jalal, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's original group, known as Tawhid and Jihad, was sent by the Iranians and Al Qaeda to attack the Kurds and Americans. At the end of a 90-minute interview, he summed up his view of Iran as follows: "Iran is at the top of the terrorism in all the world. There will be peace in the world when you change the authorities in Iran." He is in a position to know; Kurdish Islamist groups, by his count, tried to assassinate him on three separate occasions.
Those direct public remarks are almost singularly rare for a senior Kurdish official. When American forces on January 10 seized five Iranians it claimed were members of Iran's elite Quds Force in the Kurdistan provincial capital of Irbil, Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, publicly urged the Americans to return the men he claimed were acting as diplomats. Privately, Kurdish officials say the supposed diplomats were supporting terrorists, providing maps and training, but that the raid failed to net any senior Iranian operatives despite initial intelligence suggesting the no. 3 man in the Quds Force was there.
The main threat for Iraq's Kurds here is the next generation of Ansar al-Islam, an Islamist group initially affiliated with the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi, who has since been slain. In 2002, Ansar al-Islam tried to assassinate the current deputy prime minister, Barham Salih. The organization has also attacked Kurdish police chiefs. In the first days of the war, the base of the organization was destroyed at their camp in Biara, near the Kurdish town of Halabja, the site of the Iraqi army's infamous poison gas attack in 1988.
The American and Kurdish operation, known as Viking Hammer, wiped out the Ansar al-Islam base, but many of the senior leaders fled to Mariwan and the other towns on the Iranian side of the border. Since 2003, the Kurdish security services have been fighting a campaign to keep the new Islamists, who have regrouped under the banner of Ansar al-Sunna, out of Iraq and out of their territory. Today that group's Web site calls itself Al Qaeda in Kurdistan.
Military intelligence in particular has linked members of Iran's Quds Force in Iraq to supporting operations and individuals in the new Ansar al-Sunna, as The New York Sun first reported in January. On April 10, Major General William Caldwell announced that America had evidence of Iranian support and had found Iranian-produced arms in Sunni terrorist strongholds.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Kurdistan, Ansar al-Islam, Ansar al-Sunnah, Iran, Kurdistan, Sarkawt Hassan Jalal, Tawhid and Jihad, terrorists, Viking Hammer
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Car bombs explode near Iranian Embassy
Security
(AP) - Two car bombs exploded near the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, and a Sunni Arab insurgent group claimed responsibility for a similar attack the day before. Tuesday's two car bombs exploded within two minutes of each other at about 10 a.m. in a public parking lot located about 150 yards from the front of the Iranian Embassy, wounding six civilians but causing no damage to the embassy or its guards, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, car bombs, Green Zone, Iranian embassy, Karradah Mariam
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Insurgent groups fighting against al-Qaeda in Iraq
Security, Tribal
(AP) - At least two major insurgent groups are battling al-Qaida in provinces outside Baghdad, American military commanders said Friday, an indication of a deepening rift between Sunni guerrilla groups in Iraq. U.S. officers say a growing number of Sunni tribes are turning against al-Qaida, repelled by the terror group's sheer brutality and austere religious extremism. The tribes are competing with al-Qaida for influence and control over diminishing territory in the face of U.S. assaults, the officers say. The influx of Sunni fighters to areas outside the capital in advance of the security crackdown in Baghdad may have further unsettled the region.
Even Sunnis who want to cooperate with the Shiite-led government are becoming more emboldened to speak out against al-Qaida. In Anbar province, more than 200 Sunni sheiks have decided to form a political party to oppose the terror group, participants said Friday. The clashes have erupted over the last two to three months, pitting al-Qaida in Iraq against the nationalist 1920 Revolution Brigades in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces north of Baghdad as well as Anbar to the west, U.S. officers said. In Diyala, another hard-line militant Sunni group, the Ansar al-Sunna Army, is also fighting al-Qaida, they said.
"It's happening daily," Lt. Col. Keith Gogas said Thursday in an interview at an Army base in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. "Our read on it is that that the more moderate, if you will, Sunni insurgents, are finding that their goals and al-Qaida's goals are at odds." American commanders cite al-Qaida's severe brand of Islam, which is so extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col. David Sutherland said.
Such radicalism has fueled sectarian violence in Iraq and redrawn the demographics of many mixed Sunni-Shiite towns in Diyala, where tens of thousands of Shiites have been forced to flee large population centers. Previously 55 percent Sunni, 45 percent Shiite, Baqouba, where rival insurgents also have clashed, is today 80 percent Sunni and 20 percent Shiite, Sutherland said. The rift among insurgents has also been sparked by reports that some militants have been negotiating with the government and U.S. officials, who are trying to draw Sunni groups away from al-Qaida. Iraqi police and security forces, not Americans, have been negotiating with 1920 Revolution Brigades fighters, who have said "they want some help against al-Qaida," Baker said.
In a recent interview on Al-Jazeera TV, Ibrahim al-Shimmari, a spokesman for a rival group, Islamic Army in Iraq, said he did not recognize al-Qaida's claim to constitute a state. He said there could be no state "under crusader occupation" and vowed resistance against both American forces and Iran, which has close ties to the Shiite majority in Iraq.
The Islamic Army accuses al-Qaida of killing 30 of its members. Al-Shimmari also accuses al-Qaida of assassinating the leader of the 1920s Revolution Brigades, Harith Dhaher al-Dhari, who died March 27 when gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades on his car outside Baghdad. The Islamic State in Iraq groups eight Sunni insurgent factions, including al-Qaida. Key Sunni insurgent groups are not part of the coalition, including the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Ansar al-Sunna Army and the 1920 Revolution Brigades.
"As tribe after tribe begins to reject al-Qaida, we are witnessing an escalation in violence by AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) against the tribes," said Maj. Jeff Pool, military spokesman for Anbar. "East of Fallujah in the Zaidon and Zoba'a districts ... 1920 Revolution Brigades are fighting large-scale battles with AQI across their tribal areas."
Speaking in Baqouba, Mixon said that "less and less of the population, by way of the tribes, is willing to be dominated by these groups because if they are, then the tribe loses its influence in the area." And, "because of pressure we have put on them in certain areas, they have begun vying for control of space and the population," he said.
Even Sunnis who want to cooperate with the Shiite-led government are becoming more emboldened to speak out against al-Qaida. In Anbar province, more than 200 Sunni sheiks have decided to form a political party to oppose the terror group, participants said Friday. The clashes have erupted over the last two to three months, pitting al-Qaida in Iraq against the nationalist 1920 Revolution Brigades in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces north of Baghdad as well as Anbar to the west, U.S. officers said. In Diyala, another hard-line militant Sunni group, the Ansar al-Sunna Army, is also fighting al-Qaida, they said.
"It's happening daily," Lt. Col. Keith Gogas said Thursday in an interview at an Army base in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. "Our read on it is that that the more moderate, if you will, Sunni insurgents, are finding that their goals and al-Qaida's goals are at odds." American commanders cite al-Qaida's severe brand of Islam, which is so extreme that in Baqouba, al-Qaida has warned street vendors not to place tomatoes beside cucumbers because the vegetables are different genders, Col. David Sutherland said.
Such radicalism has fueled sectarian violence in Iraq and redrawn the demographics of many mixed Sunni-Shiite towns in Diyala, where tens of thousands of Shiites have been forced to flee large population centers. Previously 55 percent Sunni, 45 percent Shiite, Baqouba, where rival insurgents also have clashed, is today 80 percent Sunni and 20 percent Shiite, Sutherland said. The rift among insurgents has also been sparked by reports that some militants have been negotiating with the government and U.S. officials, who are trying to draw Sunni groups away from al-Qaida. Iraqi police and security forces, not Americans, have been negotiating with 1920 Revolution Brigades fighters, who have said "they want some help against al-Qaida," Baker said.
In a recent interview on Al-Jazeera TV, Ibrahim al-Shimmari, a spokesman for a rival group, Islamic Army in Iraq, said he did not recognize al-Qaida's claim to constitute a state. He said there could be no state "under crusader occupation" and vowed resistance against both American forces and Iran, which has close ties to the Shiite majority in Iraq.
The Islamic Army accuses al-Qaida of killing 30 of its members. Al-Shimmari also accuses al-Qaida of assassinating the leader of the 1920s Revolution Brigades, Harith Dhaher al-Dhari, who died March 27 when gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades on his car outside Baghdad. The Islamic State in Iraq groups eight Sunni insurgent factions, including al-Qaida. Key Sunni insurgent groups are not part of the coalition, including the Islamic Army of Iraq, the Ansar al-Sunna Army and the 1920 Revolution Brigades.
"As tribe after tribe begins to reject al-Qaida, we are witnessing an escalation in violence by AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq) against the tribes," said Maj. Jeff Pool, military spokesman for Anbar. "East of Fallujah in the Zaidon and Zoba'a districts ... 1920 Revolution Brigades are fighting large-scale battles with AQI across their tribal areas."
Speaking in Baqouba, Mixon said that "less and less of the population, by way of the tribes, is willing to be dominated by these groups because if they are, then the tribe loses its influence in the area." And, "because of pressure we have put on them in certain areas, they have begun vying for control of space and the population," he said.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunnah, Baqouba, Diyala, Salahuddin, Sunni guerillas, Sunni tribes, the 1920 Revolution Brigades
Friday, March 23, 2007
Al-Qaeda militant urges unification, says security plan has failed
Insurgency
(AP) In a new video posted Thursday on the Internet, an al-Qaida militant who escaped from a U.S. prison in
Afghanistan urged Sunni militants in Iraq to join the terror group and claimed the U.S. military's security plan for Baghdad has failed. Abu Yahia al-Libi, who broke out of the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul in 2005, said it was the sacred duty of all mujahedeen, or holy warriors, to "stand steadfast together."
He called on militant groups known as Ansar al-Sunnah, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of the Mujahedeen to "hurry up and respond to the call of the Quran to become one and ... join the Islamic State in Iraq," an al-Qaida affiliate in the country. The 28-minute video, posted on a Web site commonly used by Islamist militants, shows al-Libi, whose nom de guerre means 'the Libyan' in Arabic, with a beard and wearing a camouflage uniform seated next to a Kalashnikov rifle.
The videotape's authenticity could not be independently verified. It carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab. The video was also released by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging. IntelCenter said the earliest the video could have been made is Feb. 20, based on comments al-Libi makes on the decision by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw a portion of Britain's troops from Iraq. Blair's decision was first reported on Feb. 20.
Al-Libi also urged them not to "fall into the trap of enemies reaching out to Sunnis in Iraq" and claimed Saudi Arabia's calls for the support of Iraq's beleaguered Sunni minority were a sham. Al-Libi has recorded several tapes since he escaped from Bagram. Afghan police said at the time that his real name is Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan and that he is a Libyan.
Afghanistan urged Sunni militants in Iraq to join the terror group and claimed the U.S. military's security plan for Baghdad has failed. Abu Yahia al-Libi, who broke out of the U.S. prison at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul in 2005, said it was the sacred duty of all mujahedeen, or holy warriors, to "stand steadfast together."
He called on militant groups known as Ansar al-Sunnah, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of the Mujahedeen to "hurry up and respond to the call of the Quran to become one and ... join the Islamic State in Iraq," an al-Qaida affiliate in the country. The 28-minute video, posted on a Web site commonly used by Islamist militants, shows al-Libi, whose nom de guerre means 'the Libyan' in Arabic, with a beard and wearing a camouflage uniform seated next to a Kalashnikov rifle.
The videotape's authenticity could not be independently verified. It carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab. The video was also released by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor that monitors al-Qaida messaging. IntelCenter said the earliest the video could have been made is Feb. 20, based on comments al-Libi makes on the decision by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw a portion of Britain's troops from Iraq. Blair's decision was first reported on Feb. 20.
Al-Libi also urged them not to "fall into the trap of enemies reaching out to Sunnis in Iraq" and claimed Saudi Arabia's calls for the support of Iraq's beleaguered Sunni minority were a sham. Al-Libi has recorded several tapes since he escaped from Bagram. Afghan police said at the time that his real name is Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan and that he is a Libyan.
Labels: Abu Yahia al-Libi, Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan, Al Qaeda, al-Sahab, Ansar al-Sunnah, mujahedeen, the Army of the Mujahedeen, the Islamic Army in Iraq, video
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Ansar al-Sunnah kidnap senior officer
Security
(SITE) In one of several communiqués issued by Ansar al-Sunnah on Wednesday, March 14, 2007, claiming attacks on Iraqi security forces, the group states they captured a senior Iraqi military officer, providing several of his identification cards. The officer, Jamal Rashed Muhammad Ali, indicated by Ansar al-Sunnah to be a general and his ID to be a director of the Air Force, was captured following an ambush setup in the Karkh section of Baghdad.
A date is not given for this operation. According to the message, Rashed is currently being interrogated, and is one of those who responded to the appeal of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to participate in the “war against the Mujahideen.” Additionally, addressing a message to every officer of every rank in the former Iraqi army, Ansar al-Sunnah asks them to consider what happened to Rashed as proof that Maliki cannot protect them.
Labels: abduction, Ansar al-Sunnah, Jamal Rashed Muhammad Ali
