The Black Banner Organization (Arabic: تنظيم الراية السودة, ''Tandhīm Al Rāyah Al Sawdāh'') was an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

organization that battled multinational troops in Iraq. The organization's ideology was believed to be radical Sunni

Islamism Islamism is a range of religious and political ideological movements that believe that Islam should influence political systems. Its proponents believe Islam is innately political, and that Islam as a political system is superior to communism ...

Organization

Black Banners has been identified as the armed battalion of the Secret Islamic Army. The group's leader has been identified as Omar (variant: Umar) Hadid al-Falluji, an Iraqi who is believed to have international militant Islamist links. Some U.S. and Iraqi officials believe Hadid was close to Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida-linked movement allegedly used Fallujah as a headquarters. A large share of its membership is believed to be composed of non-Iraqi fighters, especially from Syria. This group was an active member of the Iraqi insurgency, sharing joint control of Falluja with other militant groups, where it imposed strict

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

law, and was responsible for a number of kidnappings. This included the abduction of three Indians, two Kenyans, and an Egyptian working for a Kuwaiti company operating in Iraq in 2004. The aim was to compel the company to stop its activities in Iraq. The hostages were later released.

Attacks against

Coalition military officials believe that a campaign of airstrikes against insurgent safehouses and positions in Fallujah seriously disrupted the network of the Black Banner Organization. Omar Hadid is said to have narrowly avoided capture by U.S. forces twice.

References

Sources

* http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3713614.stm * http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040722-084908-1295r * http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/irq/irq_83_1_eng.txt * https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/international/middleeast/27marines.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=c904464482078c63&hp&ex=1098936000&partner=homepage * https://web.archive.org/web/20090221182934/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002097538_realboss22.html Factions in the Iraq War Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Jihadist groups in Iraq {{paramilitary-org-stub