Al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions

al-Qaeda Kurdish Battalions
(Arabic: تنظيم القاعدة الكتائب الكردية‎)
Participant in the Iraq War and
the Global War on Terrorism
The Shahada flag commonly used by al-Qaeda.
Active March 2007–present[1]
Ideology
Leaders

Dilshad Kalari (Unknown to Unknown): Very little is known about Kalari although some sources believe him to be the operational leader of AQKB.

Abdullah Hassan al-Surani (2007 to Unknown): Surani has released public statements of behalf of AQKB and is believed to be the group’s official spokesman.[3]
Headquarters Erbil
Part of al-Qaeda
Opponents

State Opponents

Non-State Opponents

al-Qaeda in the Kurdish Battalions (AQKB) is a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in the northern Iran–Iraq border. It is the Kurdish branch of al-Qaeda that has launched several attacks on the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. The group was classified as a terrorist organization by the US State Department on January 1, 2012.[4]

Formation

AQKB was founded in 2007, after the apparent disbandment of Ansar al-Islam, another al-Qaeda-affiliated group. The group is considered to be relatively small, but it has camps in the Iranian towns of Mariwan and Sanandaj.[5]

Attacks

The group has launched several attacks, including its largest one being against KRG's Ministry of Interior in Erbil that killed 19 people in May 2007.[5] AQKB killed 7 border guards and one PUK security officer in Penjwan in July 2007.[6] In September 2010, two police officers were hurt by a failed suicide attack in Sulaymaniyah.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Mapping Militant Organizations, Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions
  2. ↑ Hudson, Valerie. The Hillary Doctrine. Columbia University. p. 154. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Mapping Militant Organizations, Al Qaeda Kurdish Battalions
  4. ↑ "Terrorist Designation of the al-Qaida Kurdish Battalions". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Rudaw in English The Happening: Latest News and Multimedia about Kurdistan, Iraq and the World - US Designates Kurdish Group Terrorists". Rudaw.net. 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  6. 1 2 "Terrorist Designation of the Al-Qaida Kurdish Battalions". Aina.org. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
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