Jaish Ansar al-Sunna
|
|
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna or Army of the Protectors of the Sunna (faith), is an Islamist militant group in Iraq that fought the US-led occupation and US-backed interim government of Iyad Allawi, and continues to fight the new ruling government of Jalal Talabani. The group is based in northern and central Iraq, and includes both Iraqi Kurdish and Sunni Arab religious radicals as well as many foreign fighters. The group maintains close ties with the remnants of Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist organization formerly based in the mountains near Halabja in northeastern Iraq before the U.S-led invasion. U.S. officials believe that the group was founded in September of 2003 as an umbrella organization for Islamist guerrillas, with former members of Ansar al-Islam at its core. This date coincides with the first released message from the group stating their existence, on September 20. They claim to seek to expel U.S.-led occupation forces from Iraq and to subsequently establish an Islamic state. The group's leader has been identified Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud, who is believed to be the brother of a major Ansar al-Islam fighter, although his background is unclear.
Ansar al-Sunna is thought to have links with other Islamicist organizations operating in Iraq, including the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi backed Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad. In October 2004 Ansar al-Sunna released a video beheading of a Turkish truck driver on its website. The kidnappers on the video identified themselves as members of Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad (Source: MERIA). (http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a1.html) The United States and Iraqi Interim governments have reportedly linked Ansar al-Sunna to Al Qaeda.
Following the twin Sunni and Shiite uprisings of the spring and summer of 2004, and the subsequent decrease in U.S patrols and the creation of "no-go" areas in the Sunni Triangle, Ansar al-Sunna was believed to be part of a loose coalition of insurgent groups (also including guerrillas from Mohammad's Army and Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad) controlling the Sunni cities of Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, and Baquba (U.S offensives later largely rested control from Baquba, Fallujah, and Samarra, although underground guerrilla forces still have a strong presence in those cities).
| Contents |
|
|
Suicide Bombings
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna has taken credit for several suicide bombings in Iraq, including the devastating attacks on the offices of two Kurdish political parties in Irbil on February 1 2004, that killed at least 109 people. The strikes marked one of the bloodiest attacks launched by insurgents since the start of the war. It has produced tapes and CDs that mark the "last testaments" of six bombers from previous attacks, three of whom appear non-Iraqi. Its name also appeared with eleven other insurgent groups on leaflets passed out in the Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from January 31 2004 to February 1 2004. The leaflets detail the insurgency's plan for seizing Iraqi cities following the departure of coalition forces.
It also has a strong presence in Mosul and northern Iraq. It claimed responsibility for a major suicide bombing at the dining hall of a US base near Mosul on December 21, 2004 that killed 14 US soldiers, 4 US citizen Halliburton employees and 4 Iraqi soldiers. The attacker was reportedly a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest under the uniform of an Iraqi security officer. The suicide bomber's name was Abu Omar al-Museli.
Militant Actions
Ansar al-Sunna was one of three groups responsible for the kidnapping of foreigners in Iraq in 2004 and the subsequent broadcasting of their beheading murders via the Internet. In several of the videos one of the members referred to as "The Emir" is heard warning Iraqis not to deal with US forces. The voice threatens to kill and send to Hell all who disobey. To date, the speaker has not been identified.
2003
October
November
- 20th - 6 killed in a carbomb attack on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan headquarters in Kirkuk
- 29th - Ambush on two vehicles kills 7 Spanish Intelligence Officers, the militants directly credits the Hamzah Sariyah Squadron of the al-Mansurah brigade, and retrieved 3 automatic weapons and a videocamera from the wreckage of the vehicles.
December
- 12th - A carbomb outside a US Military Installation in Ramadi kills 1 American Soldier
2004
January
- 31st - Bombing of the al-Taqafah police center in Mosul, kills 9
February
March
- 9th - Launched Katyusha rockets at the Kirkuk airport.
- 28th - Claim to have killed 8 Intelligence officers from Britain and Canada, though neither country recognises this claim as valid. al-Sunna then later showed the Identity Cards of the victims on a videorecording, which was met by silence from both countries.
August
- 11th - Release a videotape of the killing of a CIA agent
- 25th - Release a videotape of the killing of a second CIA agent
- 31st - Released a videotape of the killing of 12 hostages from Nepal who had come to work for contractors in Iraq after the war, one was beheaded, the remaining eleven were shot in the back of the head.
September
- 16th - kill 3 Iraqis
October
- 2nd - Released a videotape of the killing of an Iraqi named [Barie Nafi'a Daoud Ibrahim]], accused of collaboration with the enemy.
- 23rd - Released a videotape of the killing of a captured Iraqi civilian, Yassar Musil, accused of collaboration with the enemy.
- 28th - tReleased a videotape of the killing of 11 captured members of the Iraqi National Guard, one was beheaded, the remaining eleven were shot in the back of the head.
November
- 4th - Released a videotape of the killing of a captured officer of the new Iraqi Army working in tandem with the US Army, Hussein Shunun had been captured by the group in Mosul a few days earlier
2005
May
- 9th - They announce the kidnapping of a Japanese man, Akihiko Saito, who was working for British Security Contractor Hart GMSSCO. The militants reported that he had been injured in a fierce gunbattle near the Iraq-Syrian Border, but did not initially offer photos or video of him until doubts surfaced, then released a video of him in captivity.
References
- al-Marashi, I. (2004) “Iraq’s Hostage Crisis: Kidnappings, Mass Media and The Iraqi Insurgency” Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol 8, No.4. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2004/issue4/jv8no4a1.html