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Iraqi Kurdistan conflict
Part of the Iraqi no-fly zones conflict, the Iraq War, Islamism in Kurdistan, and the War on terror
Iraqi Kurdistan, 2003
Date September 2001 – March 2003 Location Kurdistan region Result Kurdistan Region-United States victory Kurdish Islamists flee south and join the Iraqi insurgency and later the Syrian civil war
Belligerents
Islamic Emirate of Byara Ansar al-Islam Kurdistan Islamic Group Kurdistan Islamic Movement Al-Qaeda  Iran (alleged by Peshmerga)	Kurdistan Region Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Kurdistan Democratic Party  United States (armed involvement after Viking Hammer)
Commanders and leaders
Mullah Krekar Mullah Ali Bapir Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i	Jalal Talabani Massoud Barzani Tommy Franks
Strength
Ansar al-Islam: 700-1000 fighters IUM: 40 fighters	KDP and PUK: 70,000 ~40 Americans
Casualties and losses
200+ killed	Unknown, at least 45 killed and 93 wounded

From 2001 to 2003, there was a military conflict in Iraqi Kurdistan between the Islamist militant group Ansar al-Islam and its allies against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The conflict began in 2001 as an insurgency, but subsequently merged with the larger 2003 invasion of Iraq after Operation Viking Hammer. After the invasion, Ansar al-Islam moved southwards to participate in the Iraqi insurgency and, after it was quelled, the Syrian civil war.

Background

Ansar al-Islam was formed in September 2001 when Jund al-Islam merged with a splinter group from the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, under the leadership of Mullah Krekar. According to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the group consisted of Kurdish veterans of Jihad who had gone to Afghanistan to fight alongside Taliban against the Soviet invasion in the 80s. They came back to Kurdistan after the defeat of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001. Ansar al-Islam imposed Sharia in the villages they controlled around Byara, close to the border to Iran.

Ansar al-Islam's rule

Human Rights Watch has accused Ansar al-Islam of committing atrocities against the civilian population in the territory which they controlled. It has been alleged that Ansar al-Islam harshly persecuted the Yarsan religious minority, and enforced strict Islamic law. Human Rights Watch also accused Ansar al-Islam fighters of torturing prisoners and summarily executing captured PUK soldiers. After the Battle of Kheli Hama, Ansar al-Islam were again accused of beheading and mutilating captured PUK prisoners.

Assassination attempts

After two unsuccessful assassination attempts on Franso Hariri by Ansar al-Islam in Erbil in 1994 and 1997, a third attempt in 2001 on Hariri succeeded. It happened on the same exact street as the previous two attempts.

An unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of Barham Salih 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, 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 in the ruins, as well as potassium chloride. They also discovered chemical weapons suits, atropine 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.

After the invasion

After their defeat in Iraqi Kurdistan, Ansar al-Islam joined the Iraqi insurgency in Iraq. Several terrorist attacks in the Erbil 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 Erbil that killed 117 people. They also carried out the bombing of the Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad on March 17, 2004.

References

1. ^ "Iraqi political groupings and individuals". middleeastreference.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2007-03-05.
2. Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13 p. 7 Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ "Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan (Human Rights Watch Backgrounder)". Retrieved 20 March 2015.
4. "Ansar al-Islam". Retrieved 20 March 2015.
5. "Surrogate Warfare: The Role of U.S. Army Special Forces". cgsc.cdmhost.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-11.
6. Surrogate Warfare: The Role of U.S. Army Special Forces - MAJ Isaac J. Peltier, US Army - p. 35 Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
7. John Pike. "Iraqi Insurgency". Retrieved 20 March 2015.
8. The Christian Science Monitor (16 October 2003). "The rise and fall of Ansar al-Islam". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
9. Masters of Chaos, Chapter 13 p. 28 Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
10. ^ "Background on the Crisis in Iraq". Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch Backgrounder. 2 May 2003:
    • "Armed Islamist groups in Iraqi Kurdistan". Human Rights Watch Backgrounder. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
    • "Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan". Human Rights Watch Backgrounder. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
11. Amnesty International Report 2002 – Iraq, Amnesty International, 28 May 2002, (Covering events from January–December 2001), retrieved 2023-02-20 – via Refworld
12. "Franso Hariri, 1937–2001 — biography". eKurds (in Kurdish, Arabic, and English). n.d. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022.
13. Assyrian National News (19 February 2001). "Assassination of Franso Hariri, a Member of Kurdish Leadership" (Press release). Atour: The State of Assyria for Atourayeh. Kurdish Media; Assyrian Information Management (AIM). Archived from the original on 6 April 2001.
14. "Terrorist Organization Profiles: Ansar Al-Islam, Iraq". BAAD – Big, Allied and Dangerous database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism – START.umd.edu. 2012 . Archived from the original on 9 September 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
15. Muir, Jim (9 February 2003). "Gunmen kill Iraqi Kurdish leader". BBC News. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
16. ^ Pike, John (n.d.). "Ansar al Islam (Supporters of Islam)". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
17. Robinson, Linda (September 2005). "Chapter 13: Viking Hammer (And the Ugly Baby)" (PDF). Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces (New ed.). New York: PublicAffairs. pp. 296–323. ISBN 978-1-58648-352-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-14.

• Conflicts in 2001
• Conflicts in 2002
• Conflicts in 2003
• 2001 in Iraq
• 2002 in Iraq
• 2003 in Iraq
• Civil wars in Iraq
• Civil wars of the 21st century
• Kurdish rebellions in Iraq
• Wars involving the United States
• Military operations of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Iraqi no-fly zones conflict