Who Are Ansar Al- Islam And Why Is America Targeting Them?
Apr 05, 2003
Compiled from Arab sources
The emergence of Islamic groups in the Kurdish areas in Northern Iraq dates back to more than half a century. In 1952, Al Ekhwan Al Muslemin (Muslim brotherhood) movement took the initiative in response to the Mustafa Kamal Attaturk movement that ended in the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate (Islamic ruling or succession) in Turkey in 1924.
Since their emergence, The Kurdish Islamic groups had passed through different stages. In 1971, Al Ekhwan Al Muslemin movement in Kurdistan collapsed and the emergence of the Islamic fundamentalist approach came to life in 1978:
In 1980 the Islamic army of Kurdistan which is the first Islamic military group in Kurdistan was formed. By 1985 the group had formed the Islamic Jihadi (military) Association which was the seed that birthed Ansar Al Islam and the Islamic groups in Kurdistan were unified under the name of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan, headed by Sheikh Othman bin Abd-El Aziz in 1987.
Some Islamic groups preferred to separate from the Islamic Movement because of conflicting Islamic principles between different groups and the political scene in Kurdistan ultimately divided into two groups; the Islamic groups and secular parties led by the Kurdish National Federation (KNF) party ,headed by Galal Talbani ,and the Kurdish Democratic (KD) party, headed by Masoud Barazani.
In 1988, the Iraqi regime committed a terrible massacre against the different Kurdish groups during the incidents of Halabja when the Iraqi army used poisonous gases in its confrontation with the Kurdish. As a result of this massacre, the majority of Kurdish in Iraq emigrated towards Iran.
In the Iranian refugee camps many Kurdish Sunni Islamic movements emerged to offset the attempts of the Iranian government to spread the Shiiee doctorine among the Kurdish refugees. After the war between Iraq and Iran had ended, the Iranian government started to resist the expansion of the Kurdish Sunni Islamic groups and on occasion used force to stop them.
In the wake of the second Gulf war in 1991, the Kurdish uprising in Northern Iraq took place, but it was strictly suppressed by the Iraqi regime using weapons outlawed by international treaties. The youth in the Kurdish Sunni Islamic groups in the Iranian camps returned to their homes in Kurdistan after an unsuccessful uprising and the confrontations with the Iranian government had aggravated.
Between 1992 and 1998, several movements emerged again in the political scene in Kurdistan, but some of these groups clung to their fundamentalist Sunni principles whereas other groups were affected by the Iranian Shiiee doctrine and became loyal to the Tehran regime which supported them to dominate the political life in Kurdistan specially the KNF party. The Sunni groups tried to unify again under the name of the Islamic Movement in order to prevent the groups loyal to Iran from gaining power in the elections that were held in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 2000.
The confrontation between Iran and its Kurdish allies and the Islamic Movement escalated and the Iran-supported Galal Talbani and his militia of the KNF party then started to fight the Islamic Movement, under the pretext of planning for terrorist attacks and assassinations, forcing the Kurdish to abide by Islamic laws to receive support from the rich of the Gulf. The KNF succeeded to convince some Sunni Islamic groups to separate from the Islamic Movement and forming another group called the Islamic Jammaa (group) which allied with the Iran supported groups in their fights against the Islamic Movement. Some minor Islamic groups attempted to solve the problem of fighting between the Sunni groups and to normalize the relationships between them but their attempts were in vain. Nevertheless, several meetings were held between the two groups and on the 10th of December 2001 the members of each group that sought to end the conflict suggested to form another group called Jund Al Islam that changed its name finally to Ansar Al Islam.
The Group of Ansar Al Islam
The Ansar Al Islam group adopts the fundamentalist Islamic military approach, and they have power over the Kurdish areas ruled by the KNF due to their popularity among the Kurds. Ansar Al Islam implements the Islamic laws in the strip they control which consists of 7 villages. The organizational structure of Ansar Al Islam consists of the Amir (The Head) and his two vices beside military, religious, economic, judiciary, executive and media authorities.
Military Experience
The Ansar Al Islam group does not have large military experience; they still use primitive techniques and weapons in their fighting. The most effective weapon they have is the land mines that are hidden abundantly in the area since the war between Iraq and Iran. The group had placed large quantities of landmines on their borders in the southern east of Kurdistan which act as an effective barrier against the advance of the Talbani militia in their areas. The members of Ansar Al Islam do not use modern electronic devices in their communications such as telephones or the internet for fear of being detected; they prefer instead to walk on their legs to communicate with each other.
Is Ansar Al Islam Related to Al-Qaida?
Ansar Al Islam denies any relationship with al-Qaida organization. The Mullah Fateh Krikar head of a prominent subgroup in Ansar Al Islam had been put in the American list of wanted terrorists claiming that he participated in Al-Qaida attacks on the 11th of September. He was arrested by the Iranian authorities when he was moving from Tehran towards Norway. He was handed to Netherlands that he intended to visit in his way to Oslo, but he was released to Norway at the end of this year. The US is still accusing Mullah Krikar to act as a link between Al-Qaida and the Iraqi regime, hide Iraqi dangerous chemical weapons in the areas of Ansar Al Islam and accommodating some members of Al-Qaida. Mullah Krikar totally denies these accusations and that have no evidences.
Ansar Al Islam is also accused by the US of receiving money from Al-Qaida for accommodating its members during their escape from Afghanistan. The US claims that the Iraqi regime helps Al-Qaida members in Ansar Al Islam areas to learn how to produce chemical weapons.
Relationship with the KNF party
The fundamentalist Islamic military groups in Kurdistan perceive the KNF party as a secular group whose members are apostates and agents for the Americans. The enmity between fundamentalist Islamist specially Ansar Al Islam and the KNF party led to tough battles between them like the one that took place at the end of 2001 that claimed the lived of 300 fighter mostly from the Talbani militia.
Current Islamic Groups In The Area
There are currently three major Islamic groups in the area
• Ansar Al Islam in the area of Biara.
• The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan in Halabja, but it emptied its locations before the current American war on Iraq to the KNF Talbani militia because of peace agreements between each other.
• The Islamic Jammaa in Khormal which was fighting the KNF militia with Ansar Al Islam until it signed the Tehran peace agreement with Talbani in 2001 because they agreed that it is difficult to impose the point of view of any group on the other. Ansar Al Islam perceived this act as a betrayal from their ally the Islamic Jammaa.
Ansar Al Islam After September 11
The KNF party exploited the American eagerness to eliminate the Islamic military groups around the world to convince the US that Ansar Al Islam have strong ties with Al-Qaida and they have training camps supported by Osama bin Laden in Biara to train members of both groups to produce fatal chemical weapons.
Ansar Al- Islam Intensifies Operations
The headquarter of Ansar Al Islam published a new statement on Friday March 29th indicating that due to the challenges the group encounters in this stage, it had decided to adopt new plans and techniques in its fight against the Americans and their typical enemy the Galal Talbani militia. The changes in the group's strategy aim at avoiding the brutal bombardment of the American planes and surprising their enemies with martyrdom operations and sudden assault. The statement indicated that the group had emptied their locations on March 27th at 11 PM and moved with all their weapons and ammunitions to secure locations.
After 24 hours of the departure of Ansar Al Islam from their old locations, the Galal Talbani militia dared to enter the area to find the surprises and ambushes the Mujahedeen had prepared that led to huge losses among the Talbani soldiers. The first ambush took place in the area of "Kharkilan" after 12 hours of the entrance of Talbani militia into the area. The Mujahedeen left a car with hidden explosives that attracted a large number of the Talbani militia who surrounded the car that they thought it is their first booty in the area. When some Talbani soldiers got into the car and started to operate it, the hidden bombs exploded killing an estimate of 8 soldiers and injuring 2.
This explosion was followed by another one in the area of "Kharpani" at the ditches on the "Dura shish" heights. The Talbani soldiers entered the first ditch that was empty, so they proceeded to the second one where they found a large amount of weapons that enticed them to enter after long discussions among them, but what they were afraid of happened and the ditch was planted with tough explosives that claimed the lives of all the soldiers in the place that were estimated to be 12.
The Talbani soldiers were doomed to meet ambushes even in Khormal which is the main city of the Islamic Jammaa that has peace agreements with Galal Talbani whereby it emptied its locations for his militia after the American strikes on the group's locations. The Mujahedeen placed their explosives near the largest mosque in Khormal and as soon as the Talbani militia entered the area which they thought it is secure the explosives were detonated simultaneously killing 20 and injuring 45.
The area of "Kolp" witnessed the largest losses among the Talbanis, who intensely bombarded the caves of the area for 30 minutes to make sure that it is totally safe from Mujahedeen ambushes. Nevertheless, as soon as the Talbani militia approached the caves they had bombarded, 4 of the caves exploded strongly so that the bodies of the soldiers flied in the air with loses estimated to be around 18 killed and injured. The Mujahedeen placed a large explosive device in the flour stores in the area and another explosive in a nearby bakery that were detonated simultaneously killing 9 and inuring 10.
The area of "Sarkat", which is one of the centers of Ansar Al Islam, also witnessed a large number of losses among the Talbanis. Mujahedeen placed 4 landmines in the road to Sarkat that killed 6 Talbani soldiers. In addition, before their departure, Ansar Al Islam fighters hid large amounts of explosives and landmines in all the ditches and roads in Sarkat, which exploded after 3 hours of the arrival of Talbani militia killing 40 and injuring 37.
Finally, Biara, which is the main city of Ansar Al Islam, had its share of losses among the Talbani militia. In their way to Biara in the area of "Zerda Hal", Talbani soldiers were surprised with a martyrdom assault by an Ansar Al Islam fighter killing 10 including the attacker. As the Talbanis proceeded in Biara, Mujahedeen launched their attack with artilleries that forced the Talbanis to run away in every direction towards the prepared landmines fields killing 23 and injuring 15. Nonetheless, the Talbanis continued to proceed inside Biara, and as soon as the Talbanis tried to enter the old security office of Ansar Al Islam, Mujahedeen detonated the explosives they had placed there killing 10. After this explosion, the Talbanis could not approach any location, and they waited for 4 hours before proceeding but they changed their minds for fear of further explosions and ambushes that made them avoid touching anything in the area. The leader of Talbani militia Kossert Rassoul left the area shortly after the attack giving his command to his soldiers to proceed to the old Mujahedeen headquarter where a car full of explosives was detonated killing 30 and injuring 25.
Apr 05, 2003
Compiled from Arab sources
The emergence of Islamic groups in the Kurdish areas in Northern Iraq dates back to more than half a century. In 1952, Al Ekhwan Al Muslemin (Muslim brotherhood) movement took the initiative in response to the Mustafa Kamal Attaturk movement that ended in the collapse of the Islamic Caliphate (Islamic ruling or succession) in Turkey in 1924.
Since their emergence, The Kurdish Islamic groups had passed through different stages. In 1971, Al Ekhwan Al Muslemin movement in Kurdistan collapsed and the emergence of the Islamic fundamentalist approach came to life in 1978:
In 1980 the Islamic army of Kurdistan which is the first Islamic military group in Kurdistan was formed. By 1985 the group had formed the Islamic Jihadi (military) Association which was the seed that birthed Ansar Al Islam and the Islamic groups in Kurdistan were unified under the name of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan, headed by Sheikh Othman bin Abd-El Aziz in 1987.
Some Islamic groups preferred to separate from the Islamic Movement because of conflicting Islamic principles between different groups and the political scene in Kurdistan ultimately divided into two groups; the Islamic groups and secular parties led by the Kurdish National Federation (KNF) party ,headed by Galal Talbani ,and the Kurdish Democratic (KD) party, headed by Masoud Barazani.
In 1988, the Iraqi regime committed a terrible massacre against the different Kurdish groups during the incidents of Halabja when the Iraqi army used poisonous gases in its confrontation with the Kurdish. As a result of this massacre, the majority of Kurdish in Iraq emigrated towards Iran.
In the Iranian refugee camps many Kurdish Sunni Islamic movements emerged to offset the attempts of the Iranian government to spread the Shiiee doctorine among the Kurdish refugees. After the war between Iraq and Iran had ended, the Iranian government started to resist the expansion of the Kurdish Sunni Islamic groups and on occasion used force to stop them.
In the wake of the second Gulf war in 1991, the Kurdish uprising in Northern Iraq took place, but it was strictly suppressed by the Iraqi regime using weapons outlawed by international treaties. The youth in the Kurdish Sunni Islamic groups in the Iranian camps returned to their homes in Kurdistan after an unsuccessful uprising and the confrontations with the Iranian government had aggravated.
Between 1992 and 1998, several movements emerged again in the political scene in Kurdistan, but some of these groups clung to their fundamentalist Sunni principles whereas other groups were affected by the Iranian Shiiee doctrine and became loyal to the Tehran regime which supported them to dominate the political life in Kurdistan specially the KNF party. The Sunni groups tried to unify again under the name of the Islamic Movement in order to prevent the groups loyal to Iran from gaining power in the elections that were held in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 2000.
The confrontation between Iran and its Kurdish allies and the Islamic Movement escalated and the Iran-supported Galal Talbani and his militia of the KNF party then started to fight the Islamic Movement, under the pretext of planning for terrorist attacks and assassinations, forcing the Kurdish to abide by Islamic laws to receive support from the rich of the Gulf. The KNF succeeded to convince some Sunni Islamic groups to separate from the Islamic Movement and forming another group called the Islamic Jammaa (group) which allied with the Iran supported groups in their fights against the Islamic Movement. Some minor Islamic groups attempted to solve the problem of fighting between the Sunni groups and to normalize the relationships between them but their attempts were in vain. Nevertheless, several meetings were held between the two groups and on the 10th of December 2001 the members of each group that sought to end the conflict suggested to form another group called Jund Al Islam that changed its name finally to Ansar Al Islam.
The Group of Ansar Al Islam
The Ansar Al Islam group adopts the fundamentalist Islamic military approach, and they have power over the Kurdish areas ruled by the KNF due to their popularity among the Kurds. Ansar Al Islam implements the Islamic laws in the strip they control which consists of 7 villages. The organizational structure of Ansar Al Islam consists of the Amir (The Head) and his two vices beside military, religious, economic, judiciary, executive and media authorities.
Military Experience
The Ansar Al Islam group does not have large military experience; they still use primitive techniques and weapons in their fighting. The most effective weapon they have is the land mines that are hidden abundantly in the area since the war between Iraq and Iran. The group had placed large quantities of landmines on their borders in the southern east of Kurdistan which act as an effective barrier against the advance of the Talbani militia in their areas. The members of Ansar Al Islam do not use modern electronic devices in their communications such as telephones or the internet for fear of being detected; they prefer instead to walk on their legs to communicate with each other.
Is Ansar Al Islam Related to Al-Qaida?
Ansar Al Islam denies any relationship with al-Qaida organization. The Mullah Fateh Krikar head of a prominent subgroup in Ansar Al Islam had been put in the American list of wanted terrorists claiming that he participated in Al-Qaida attacks on the 11th of September. He was arrested by the Iranian authorities when he was moving from Tehran towards Norway. He was handed to Netherlands that he intended to visit in his way to Oslo, but he was released to Norway at the end of this year. The US is still accusing Mullah Krikar to act as a link between Al-Qaida and the Iraqi regime, hide Iraqi dangerous chemical weapons in the areas of Ansar Al Islam and accommodating some members of Al-Qaida. Mullah Krikar totally denies these accusations and that have no evidences.
Ansar Al Islam is also accused by the US of receiving money from Al-Qaida for accommodating its members during their escape from Afghanistan. The US claims that the Iraqi regime helps Al-Qaida members in Ansar Al Islam areas to learn how to produce chemical weapons.
Relationship with the KNF party
The fundamentalist Islamic military groups in Kurdistan perceive the KNF party as a secular group whose members are apostates and agents for the Americans. The enmity between fundamentalist Islamist specially Ansar Al Islam and the KNF party led to tough battles between them like the one that took place at the end of 2001 that claimed the lived of 300 fighter mostly from the Talbani militia.
Current Islamic Groups In The Area
There are currently three major Islamic groups in the area
• Ansar Al Islam in the area of Biara.
• The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan in Halabja, but it emptied its locations before the current American war on Iraq to the KNF Talbani militia because of peace agreements between each other.
• The Islamic Jammaa in Khormal which was fighting the KNF militia with Ansar Al Islam until it signed the Tehran peace agreement with Talbani in 2001 because they agreed that it is difficult to impose the point of view of any group on the other. Ansar Al Islam perceived this act as a betrayal from their ally the Islamic Jammaa.
Ansar Al Islam After September 11
The KNF party exploited the American eagerness to eliminate the Islamic military groups around the world to convince the US that Ansar Al Islam have strong ties with Al-Qaida and they have training camps supported by Osama bin Laden in Biara to train members of both groups to produce fatal chemical weapons.
Ansar Al- Islam Intensifies Operations
The headquarter of Ansar Al Islam published a new statement on Friday March 29th indicating that due to the challenges the group encounters in this stage, it had decided to adopt new plans and techniques in its fight against the Americans and their typical enemy the Galal Talbani militia. The changes in the group's strategy aim at avoiding the brutal bombardment of the American planes and surprising their enemies with martyrdom operations and sudden assault. The statement indicated that the group had emptied their locations on March 27th at 11 PM and moved with all their weapons and ammunitions to secure locations.
After 24 hours of the departure of Ansar Al Islam from their old locations, the Galal Talbani militia dared to enter the area to find the surprises and ambushes the Mujahedeen had prepared that led to huge losses among the Talbani soldiers. The first ambush took place in the area of "Kharkilan" after 12 hours of the entrance of Talbani militia into the area. The Mujahedeen left a car with hidden explosives that attracted a large number of the Talbani militia who surrounded the car that they thought it is their first booty in the area. When some Talbani soldiers got into the car and started to operate it, the hidden bombs exploded killing an estimate of 8 soldiers and injuring 2.
This explosion was followed by another one in the area of "Kharpani" at the ditches on the "Dura shish" heights. The Talbani soldiers entered the first ditch that was empty, so they proceeded to the second one where they found a large amount of weapons that enticed them to enter after long discussions among them, but what they were afraid of happened and the ditch was planted with tough explosives that claimed the lives of all the soldiers in the place that were estimated to be 12.
The Talbani soldiers were doomed to meet ambushes even in Khormal which is the main city of the Islamic Jammaa that has peace agreements with Galal Talbani whereby it emptied its locations for his militia after the American strikes on the group's locations. The Mujahedeen placed their explosives near the largest mosque in Khormal and as soon as the Talbani militia entered the area which they thought it is secure the explosives were detonated simultaneously killing 20 and injuring 45.
The area of "Kolp" witnessed the largest losses among the Talbanis, who intensely bombarded the caves of the area for 30 minutes to make sure that it is totally safe from Mujahedeen ambushes. Nevertheless, as soon as the Talbani militia approached the caves they had bombarded, 4 of the caves exploded strongly so that the bodies of the soldiers flied in the air with loses estimated to be around 18 killed and injured. The Mujahedeen placed a large explosive device in the flour stores in the area and another explosive in a nearby bakery that were detonated simultaneously killing 9 and inuring 10.
The area of "Sarkat", which is one of the centers of Ansar Al Islam, also witnessed a large number of losses among the Talbanis. Mujahedeen placed 4 landmines in the road to Sarkat that killed 6 Talbani soldiers. In addition, before their departure, Ansar Al Islam fighters hid large amounts of explosives and landmines in all the ditches and roads in Sarkat, which exploded after 3 hours of the arrival of Talbani militia killing 40 and injuring 37.
Finally, Biara, which is the main city of Ansar Al Islam, had its share of losses among the Talbani militia. In their way to Biara in the area of "Zerda Hal", Talbani soldiers were surprised with a martyrdom assault by an Ansar Al Islam fighter killing 10 including the attacker. As the Talbanis proceeded in Biara, Mujahedeen launched their attack with artilleries that forced the Talbanis to run away in every direction towards the prepared landmines fields killing 23 and injuring 15. Nonetheless, the Talbanis continued to proceed inside Biara, and as soon as the Talbanis tried to enter the old security office of Ansar Al Islam, Mujahedeen detonated the explosives they had placed there killing 10. After this explosion, the Talbanis could not approach any location, and they waited for 4 hours before proceeding but they changed their minds for fear of further explosions and ambushes that made them avoid touching anything in the area. The leader of Talbani militia Kossert Rassoul left the area shortly after the attack giving his command to his soldiers to proceed to the old Mujahedeen headquarter where a car full of explosives was detonated killing 30 and injuring 25.
posted by Casey Britton | 1:48 AM
<< Home