The Swords of Righteousness Brigade (Arabic: سرايا سيوف الحق, sometimes translated as the Swords of Truth Brigade) is a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

group which kidnapped four

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

s from

Christian Peacemaker Teams Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims ...

(CPT), in

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 ...

on 26 November 2005, murdered one, Tom Fox, and held the remaining three hostages until March 22, 2006, when coalition forces raided the place where the hostages were held, known as the

Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis The Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis involved four human rights workers of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who were held hostage in Iraq from November 26, 2005 by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. One hostage, Tom Fox, was killed, and the ...

. The group was unknown prior to this kidnapping. However, the U.S.-based

SITE Institute SITE Intelligence Group is an American for-profit consultancy group that tracks online activity of white supremacist and jihadist organizations. It is led by the Israeli analyst Rita Katz and based in Bethesda, Maryland. From 2002 to 2008, Katz h ...

, a terrorism research organization, said that it had found ties between the Swords of Righteousness Brigade and the

Islamic Army in Iraq The Islamic Army in Iraq (, IAI) was an underground Islamist militant organization formed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led Coalition forces, and the subsequent collapse of the Ba'athist regime headed by Saddam Hussein. ...

Hostage crisis

In 2006, the CPT activists were freed, except for Tom Fox, an American Quaker, who was killed by the hostage takers. Along with Tom Fox, two Canadians,

James Loney James Anthony Loney (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Mets, and in the KBO League for ...

and

Harmeet Singh Sooden Harmeet Singh Sooden (born 1973) is a Canadian-New Zealand anti-war activist who volunteered for the international NGO Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. He was held captive in Baghdad with three others for almost four months until being freed ...

, and a Briton,

Norman Kember Norman Frank Kember (born 1931) is an emeritus professor of biophysics at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and a Christian pacifist active in campaigning on issues of war and peace. As a Baptist, he is a long-standing member ...

were also kidnapped. Their release reportedly involved the Canadian elite forces JTF-2, British SAS, and

American Special Forces United States special operations forces (SOF) are the active and reserve component forces of the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Navy and United States Air Force, Air Force within the United Sta ...

operatives.

References

External links

Free The Captives
Factions in the Iraq War Rebel groups in Iraq Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) {{Iraq-War-stub

Hostage crisis

See also

References

External links