The Islamist insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan was a military conflict in

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...

between the Islamist militant group

Ansar al-Islam Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستان),Chalk, Peter, ''Encyclopedia of Terrorism'' Volume 1, 2012, ABC-CLIO simply called Ansar al-Islam ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام), also nicknamed the Kurdi ...

and the

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

(KRG). The conflict began in 2001, but subsequently merged with the larger

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. After the invasion, Ansar al-Islam continued a low-level terrorist

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...

against the KRG.

Background

Ansar al-Islam was formed in September 2001 when

Jund al-Islam Jund al-Islam is an active armed insurgent group affiliated with al-Qaeda operating primarily in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Background The group was established in 2011 shortly after the fall of the Libyan government led by Muammar Gaddafi and esta ...

merged with a splinter group from the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, under the leadership of

Mullah Krekar Najmuddin Vahid Faraj Ahmad ( ku, نەجمەدین وەحید فەرەج ئەحمەد, July 7, 1956), better known as Mullah Krekar ( ku, مه‌لا کرێکار), is an Iraqi Kurdish Sunni Islamic scholar and militiant who was the founder and f ...

. According to the PUK, the group consisted of Kurdish veterans of Jihad who had gone to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to fight alongside Taliban against the Soviet invasion in the 80s. They came back to

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

after the defeat of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001. Ansar al-Islam imposed

Sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

in the villages they controlled around Biyara, close to the border to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Ansar al-Islam's rule

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

has accused Ansar al-Islam of committing atrocities against the civilian population in the territory which they controlled. It has been alleged that

harshly persecuted the

Yarsan Yarsanism, Ahl-e Haqq or Kaka'i ( ku, یارسان, translit=Yarsan or ; fa, اهل حق, ar, كاكائي), is a syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of followers of Yarsanism i ...

religious minority, and enforced strict Islamic law.

also accused Ansar al-Islam fighters of torturing prisoners and summarily executing captured PUK soldiers.

Assassination attempts

An unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of

Barham Salih Barham Salih ( ku, بەرھەم ساڵح, Berhem Salih; ar, برهم صالح; born 12 September 1960) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the eighth president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022. He is the former prime minister of the Kurdista ...

in April 2002 by Ansar al-Islam. At the time, Saleh was the PUK Regional Government Prime Minister. Later in February 2003 Ansar al-Islam assassinated the prominent PUK commander Shawkat Haji Mushir, along with five other people. In March 2004 the US State Department officially classified Ansar al-Islam as a terrorist organization.

2003 Invasion of Iraq

During the

2003 Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, US forces aided the PUK in attacking Ansar al-Islam. In late March 2003, PUK forces supported by American special forces captured Halabja after several days of heavy fighting. The surviving Ansar al-Islam forces fled to Iran. American intelligence personnel inspected the suspected chemical weapons site in Sargat and discovered traces of

Ricin Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body ...

in the ruins, as well as

potassium chloride Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...

. They also discovered chemical weapons suits,

atropine Atropine is a tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate, and to decrease saliva production during surgery. It is typically given i ...

nerve gas antidotes, and manuals on manufacturing chemical weapons, lending credence to the idea that the site was related to the manufacture of chemical weapons and poisons.Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13 p. 25-26

After the invasion

After their defeat in Iraqi Kurdistan, Ansar al-Islam joined the

Iraqi insurgency Iraqi insurgency may refer to: * Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), part of the Iraq War ** Iraqi insurgency (2003–2006), 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency ** Iraqi civil war (2006–2008), multi-sided civil war in Iraq * Iraqi insurgency (20 ...

in Iraq. Several terrorist attacks in the

Irbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. H ...

area have been linked to Ansar al-Islam, including the Assassination of Franso Hariri, and the suicide bombing of the PUK and KDP headquarters in Irbil that killed 117 people. They also carried out the bombing of the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad on March 17, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraqi Kurdistan, Islamist insurgency Conflicts in 2001 Conflicts in 2002 Conflicts in 2003 2001 in Iraq 2002 in Iraq 2003 in Iraq Civil wars in Iraq Civil wars post-1945 Islamist Insurgency Wars involving the United States