Ansar al-Islam

Ansar al-Islam (Supporters of Islam) is an Islamist group, promoting a radical interpretation of Islam and holy war. At the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq it controlled about a dozen villages and a range of peaks in northern Iraq on the Iranian border. It has been in conflict with other groups such as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

History

It was formed in December 2001 as a merger of Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), led by Abu Abdallah al-Shafi'i, and a splinter group from the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan led by Mullah Krekar. Krekar is alleged to be the leader of Ansar al-Islam. He has lived in Norway, where he has refugee status, since 1991. On March 21, 2003 his arrest was ordered by Økokrim, a Norwegian law enforcement agency, to ensure he did not leave the country while accusations that he had threatened terrorist attacks were investigated.

Ansar al-Islam has been accused by the United States of providing a safe haven to al-Qaeda associates, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. According to the US, they had established a camp for the production of poisons, including ricin. The US has also claimed that Ansar al-Islam has links with Saddam Hussein, thus claiming a link between Hussein and al-Qaeda. The claims were rejected by Krekar, and a presentation by Colin Powell to the UN on February 5, 2003 was met with widespread scepticism (see United Nations actions regarding Iraq).

Operations in Iraq

Ansar al-Islam has become known for its suicide attacks in Iraq following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. When the US invaded, it attacked AI training camps in the north, and the terror leaders retreated to neighboring countries. When the war in the north settled down, the militants returned to Iraq to fight against the occupying American forces.

AI is believed to be responsible for at least 30 suicide bombings in Iraq, the first being a car bombing in the Kurdish-controlled north on February 26, 2003, before the war had even begun. Since then, more than 800 people have been killed and many more wounded in such bombings. They include:

• the Aug. 7 bombing of the Jordanian embassy, which killed 19;
• the Aug. 19 bombing of UN Headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22;
• the Aug. 29 car bombing at a Najaf mosque, which killed 85;
• a Sept. 9 car bombing of a CIA building in Arbil, which killed 3;
• 4 car bomb attacks in Baghdad on Oct. 27, which killed 35;
• the truck bombing of Italian Military HQ in southern Iraq, which killed 33;
• 2 suicide bombings on Feb. 1, 2004, which killed 109 Kurds;
• 2 car bombings on Feb. 10 and 11, which killed 100 people;
• the suicide bombings of Shia shrines on March 2, which killed 181 and wounded 500;
• The April 21 Basra car bombings that killed 74.

It is believed the leader of AI, al-Zarqawi, ordered the October 2002 shooting of Laurence Foley, a US diplomat, in Amman, Jordan. It is believed he also ordered the attempted ricin attacks in Europe in early 2003, the May 16 Casablanca Attacks, and possibly the Madrid train bombings. AI is also suspected in the plot to detonate chemical truck bombs in Jordan and bomb a NATO summit in Turkey.

References

• , February 5, 2003.
• , March 21, 2003.
• , March 22, 2003.
• , February 26, 2003