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| {{lowercase|title=al-Qaeda in Iraq (disambiguation)}} | |||
| {{TotallyDisputed}} | |||
| {{Unbalanced}} | |||
| {{copyedit}} | |||
| {{merge|The Jihad Foundation Organization in Mesopotamia}} | |||
| The term "al-Qaeda in Iraq" may refer to: | |||
| {{about|the group called "Al-Qaeda in Iraq"|the alleged earlier involvement of al-Qaeda in Iraq|Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda}} | |||
| * ]'s international ] network's operations in Iraq. | |||
| {{Infobox War Faction | |||
| * al-Zarqawi, who was labeled an "al-Qaeda operative", contacts with the group ] in Northern Iraq, an area that was outside the control of the former Ba'athist government. (Note: Ansar al-Islam's founder, ], has staunchly denied any such contacts. ) | |||
| |name=Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn | |||
| * al-Zarqawi's operations in Iraq under the group ] | |||
| |war=the ] | |||
| * Alternative name of ] used by U.S. officials and western media. | |||
| |image=] | |||
| * The umbrella organization of Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq, ], has recently began being referred to as an "al-Qaeda front group" by certain western media, specifically the ]. (from "umbrella organization of insurgent groups including 'al-Qaeda in Iraq'", then from "al-Qaeda linked") | |||
| |caption=Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn members with ] (]ese civilian beheaded on ], ]).<br>The banner contains the words from right to left on the bottom: "]" (Priniciple/Foundation), "]" (Organization/Organizing), and "]" (The Holy Struggle) | |||
| |active=2004-present | |||
| |leaders=]†<br> | |||
| ] (]) | |||
| |clans= | |||
| |headquarters=Formerly ] | |||
| |area=], ], ] | |||
| |strength=1,000+ | |||
| |partof=] (since 2004), <br>] (2006),<br>] (since 2006) | |||
| |previous=] | |||
| |next= | |||
| |opponents=],<br>] (], ] and ] militias, some of Iraqi ] militias),<br>],<br>], ], ] | |||
| |battles=] | |||
| }} | |||
| It may also refer to alleged links between al-Qaeda and ]: | |||
| '''Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)''' is a radical ] militant group in the ] ] which was led by ] until his death. It is now believed to be led by ] (aka ]). | |||
| * ] | |||
| {{disambig}} | |||
| AQI is often regarded as being the ]' most formidable enemy in ], as well the largest killer of Iraqi civilians. Critics of this say the threat posed by AQI is overblown, or possibly a diversion. | |||
| This group is most clearly associated with foreign ]s operating in Iraq and has specifically targeted international forces and Iraqi citizens. AQI's operations are predominately Iraq-based, but the group maintains an extensive ] network throughout the ], ], ], ], and ]. Although AQI's top leaders are usually foreigners, it is estimated that Iraqis make up 90 percent of AQI's of at least 1,000 to several thousand fighters. | |||
| The group is a direct successor of the Zaraqwi's previous organization known as ''']'''. Since its official statement declaring ] to the ]'s ] terrorist network in October 2004, the group identifies itself as '''Tanzim Qaidat Al-Jihad in Bilad al-Rafidayn''' ('''Organization of Jihad's Base in the Country of the Two Rivers'''). | |||
| ==Name== | |||
| AQI is also variably known as: '''Al-Qaida in Iraq''', '''Al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in Iraq''', '''Al-Qaeda Group of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers''', '''Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia''', '''Al-Qaeda of Jihad in Iraq''', '''Al-Qaeda of Jihad Organization in the Land of The Two Rivers''', '''Al-Zarqawi Network''', and '''Tanzeem Qaidat al Jihad/Bilad al Raafidaini'''. | |||
| ==Goals== | |||
| In a July 2005 letter to al-Qaeda deputy leader ], AQI late leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi outlined a four-stage plan to expand the Iraq war to include expelling U.S. forces from Iraq, establishing an Islamic authority (]), spreading the conflict to Iraq's ] neighbors and engaging in battle with ]. | |||
| Consistent with their stated plan, the affiliated groups were linked to regional atacks, such as the ] in ], and the ] rocket attack on the '']''. | |||
| ==Umbrella organizations== | |||
| ] | |||
| In an attempt to unify Sunni Sunni inurgents in Iraq, in January 2006, AQI created the ] of ''']''' (MSC). However, its efforts to recruit Iraqi Sunni nationalist and secular groups were undermined by its violent tactics against civilians and the ] doctrine, and the attempt was largely unsuccessful. | |||
| AQI claimed its attacks under the MSC until mid-October, when Abu Ayyub al-Masri declared the ''']''' (ISI), under which AQI now claims its attacks. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| In 2004 AQI kidnapped and murdered ] of ] on ], and on ] bombed a Shiite ] procession in ] and main bus station in nearby ], ]. The group possibly killed 35 children and seven adults in the ] targeting U.S. troops handing out candy to the Iraqis on ], but the responsibility claim remains unclear. From Novemeber to December the main AQI forces took part in the defence of ] from the ]. | |||
| In 2005 AQI largely focused on conducting multiple high-profile, coordinated ]s. AQI claimed numerous attacks primarily aimed against civilians, the ], and ], such as the coordinated attacks against the voters during the ] and the coordinated suicide attacks outside the ] and ] in ] on ]. On ] AQI fighters attacked ] ]. In July, al-Qaeda kidnapped and executed ], Egyptian ambassador to Iraq,, and for a three-day series of suicide attacks left at least 150 people dead and more than 260 wounded, including ]. In September, Zarqawi claimed responsbility for the ] massacre of 160 people, ] in Baghdad; 570 were injured. | |||
| AQI attack claims, which the group now releases under the auspices of the first IMC and then the ISI, increased in 2006. In one of the incidents, two American soldiers (] and ]) were captured, tortured and beheaded by the IMC members; in another, ] were kidnapped and executed. AQI and its umbrella groups were blamed for multiple mass-casualty attacks targeting Iraqi Shiites and claimed responsibility for some of them. In many cases it's unknown if the attack was the work of AQI itself or rather its allied groups. Also this year, several key members of AQI were killed or captured, including the leader and founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his spiritual advisor ], and the alleged "number two" deputy leader ]. | |||
| This trend continued in 2007, as the AQI-led ISI claimed responsibility for such attacks as the ] assassination attempt of Sunni Deputy ] ], ] ] and May ]. On ] ] U.S. forces announced they freed 42 Iraqi citizens kidnapped and tortured by AQI as part of the groups ] campaign against Iraqi civilians. On ], ] the ISI leader ] was announced to having been killed in Baghdad. | |||
| ==Activities== | |||
| The group is one of the most active among the Iraqi inurgent groups, especially in its current stronghold in ] province. In ] alone, Zarqawi affiliates are reportedly responsible for more than 1,700 attacks on Coalition and Iraqi forces over a three-month period in 2005. Many of these attacks were suicide and ] (IED) attacks using cars and other motor vehicles driven by foreign fighters or locally recruited Iraqis trained by foreign fighters. | |||
| ===Inciting sectarian violence=== | |||
| The attacks against civilians often targeted Iraqi ] majority in an attempt to incite ]. The group leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly declared ''all-out war'' on Shiites while claiming responsibility for a series of a ] bombings. U.S. and Iraqi officials accused AQI of trying to tip Iraq into full-scale ] between Iraq's majority Shiites and minority Sunni Arabs with a campaign of spectacular massacres that have killed thousands. | |||
| From the February 2006 ] in ] through the series of massive attacks against civilians like the ] in the Baghdad's Shiite district of ] on ] ] which killed at least 215 people and injured 257 others, AQI succeeded to provoke the Shiite militias to unleash a wave of retaliatory kidnappings and killings. This vicious religious violence is sometimes called "]". | |||
| ===Operations outside Iraq=== | |||
| AQI also increased its external operations in 2005 by claiming credit for three attacks: | |||
| *] in ], Jordan, on ] ]; | |||
| *a rocket attack that narrowly missed ] ship in ], Israel; | |||
| *the firing of several '']'' rockets into Israel from ] in December. | |||
| On ], ] AQI attempted to blow up a Iraqi-Jordanian ], but failed - Zarqawi ('']'') and two of his associates were sentenced to death for this plot by a Jordanian court in 2006. In addition, an AQI operative was arrested in Turkey in August while planning an operation targeting Israeli ]s. In Lebanon, ] militant group ] fighting in the ] is connected to AQI and led by Zarqawi's former companion who fought in Iraq. | |||
| ==Conflicts with the other Sunni groups== | |||
| The first reports of the split and even armed clashes between AQI and its allies and the other anti-government Sunni groups date back to 2005. In the summer of 2006 local Sunni tribes and insurgents groups, including the leading rebel group known as ] (IAI), began to speak of their dissatisfaction of the millitant group and its tactics, and openly criticized foreign fighters for their campaign of bombings against civilian targets, especially Sunni. | |||
| Since them, AQI forces have retaliated against local Sunni tribesmen and other insurgent groups for negotiating with the U.S. forces and the Iraqi government on joining forces to route out Al-Qaeda millitants, including the assassination of ], a major Sunni insurgent leader who headed the ]. As the situation between AQI and the local Sunni tribesmen in Anbar (many of them former Qaeda allies) has continued to worsen, in September 2006 30 Anbar tribes have formed their own local alliance directed specifically to counter Al-Qaeda forces, called ] (ASC), siding with the government and U.S. forces in the province. | |||
| On ] ] the IAI spokesman accused AQI of killing 30 members of Islamic Army and said al-Baghdadi had broken ]. On the same day the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq Abu Omar al-Baghdadi released an audio tape in which he tried to soothe down tensions with other major Sunni insurgent groups. On ] ] the government said AQI leader Abu Ayyub Al Masri was killed by the ASC fighters. Four days later, AQI released an audio tape in which Al Masri warned Sunnis not to join the political process. He also went on to claim that reports of internal fighting between his group and other Sunni insurgent groups were "lies and fabrications". | |||
| In June 2007, the growing hostility between foreign-influenced AQI extremists and Sunni nationalists led to a gunbattles between the insurgents groups also in Baghdad. Same month, after an al-Qaeda-linked suicide bomber struck a ] of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, US military began arming moderate insurgents on the promise to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq and not the Americans. In the meantime, however, Islamic Army reached a ] with AQI on ] ], saying ''"The most important is that it's our common duty to fight the Americans."'' Neverthless, IAI never adopted al-Qaeda's extremist views and refused to sign on to ISI. | |||
| ==Leaders== | |||
| *] (killed 2006) | |||
| *] (status uncertain) | |||
| *] (captured 2006) | |||
| *] (killed 2007) | |||
| *] (killed 2006) | |||
| *] (killed 2005) | |||
| *] (killed 2007) | |||
| *] | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ===Articles=== | |||
| * ] on ], ] | |||
| * ] on ] ] | |||
| * ] on ], ] | |||
| * ]/] ], ] | |||
| * ] on ], ] | |||
| ===Videos=== | |||
| * ] on ] ] | |||
| {{Armed Iraqi Groups in the Iraq War and the Iraq Civil War}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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Revision as of 15:31, 13 June 2007
The term "al-Qaeda in Iraq" may refer to:
- Osama bin Laden's international al-Qaeda network's operations in Iraq.
- al-Zarqawi, who was labeled an "al-Qaeda operative", contacts with the group Ansar al-Islam in Northern Iraq, an area that was outside the control of the former Ba'athist government. (Note: Ansar al-Islam's founder, Mullah Krekar, has staunchly denied any such contacts. )
- al-Zarqawi's operations in Iraq under the group Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
- Alternative name of The Jihad Foundation Organization in Mesopotamia used by U.S. officials and western media.
- The umbrella organization of Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq, Islamic State of Iraq, has recently began being referred to as an "al-Qaeda front group" by certain western media, specifically the Associated Press. (from "umbrella organization of insurgent groups including 'al-Qaeda in Iraq'", then from "al-Qaeda linked")
It may also refer to alleged links between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein:
Topics referred to by the same term
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn.If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Category: