THE ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND THE LEVANT (ASH SHAM) The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant abbreviated as ISIS, was established as an umbrella organization of Iraqimujahideen groups on October 15, 2006 under the name of Islamic State of Iraq. The group was composed of and supported by a variety of mujahideen groups, including its predecessor organisation, the Mujahideen Shura Council, Al-Qaeda, Jeish al-Fatiheen, Jund al-Sahaba, Katbiyan Ansar Al-Tawhid wal Sunnah, Jeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, etc., and other clans whose population is of Sunni Islam. Its aim is to establish a caliphate. At the height of the Iraq War, it claimed a significant presence in the Iraqi governorates of Al Anbar, Ninawa, Kirkuk, and most of Salah ad Din, and parts of Babil, Diyala, and Baghdad. It claimed Baqubah as its capital. During the Syrian Civil War, the group had a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo. The group has changed its named several times since its formation. The organization first emerged in early 2004 and called itself Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (The Monotheism and Jihad Group) but changed its name in October 2004 to Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, The Organization of Jihads Base in the Country of the Two Rivers (TQJBR), more commonly known as al-Qaida in Iraq.[20] Then in January 2006 the group merged with several smaller organizations and began calling itself Mujahideen Shura Council and in October 2006 it chose the name Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islamiyya or Islamic State of Iraq.[20] In April 2013, the group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to reflect its involvement in the Syrian civil war. The group was founded in 2003 as a reaction to the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, and first led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who declared allegiance to Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda network on 17 October 2004. Foreign fighters from outside Iraq were thought to play a key role in its network. The group became a primary target of the Iraqi Government and its foreign supporters and attacks bettwen these groups resulted in more than 1,000 deaths of Americans every year between 2004 and 2010. In September 2005 the groups leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, declared war on the Shia and the group has used bombings (martyrdom/shahada bombers), against Shia dominated or mixed sectarian neighbourhoods. Between late 2006 and May 2007, the ISIS brought the Dora neighborhood of southern Baghdad under its control. Numerous Christian families left, unwilling to pay the Jizya tax. US efforts to drive out the ISI presence stalled in late June, 2007, despite the walling-off of streets and the use of biometric identification technology. In 2007 alone the ISIS killed around 2,000 Shia, making that year its most violent in its campaign against the Shia population of Iraq. The Interior Ministry of Iraq said that Al-Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (The leader of the group) was captured in Baghdad on March 9, 2007, but it was later said that the person in question was not Al-Baghdadi. On April 19, 2007, the organization announced that it had set up a provisional government termed the first Islamic administration of post-invasion Iraq. The emirate was stated to be headed by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and his cabinet of 10 ministers. Abu Dua, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is the second leader of the group and acting chief of Al Qaeda in Iraq. On May 3, Iraqi sources claimed that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed a short time earlier; no evidence was provided to support his death, and US sources remained skeptical. The Islamic State of Iraq released a statement later that day that denied his death. The death of Abu Ayyub al-Masri was also claimed, apparently in error too. In an ISIS press release, responsibility was claimed for an ambush at Al Taqa (Babil) on May 12, at which one Iraqi soldier and 4 US 10th Mountain Division soldiers were killed; 3 soldiers of the US unit were captured. One was found dead in the Euphrates 11 days later. The other two were claimed to have been executed and buried in an ISI video release, after a 4,000-man manhunt by US and allied forces ended without success. No direct proof was given. Their bodies were found a year later. On June 18, the US launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper, as a large-scale effort to eliminate al-Qaeda in Iraq operating in Baquba and its surrounding areas. The June 25 martyrdom operation of a meeting of Al Anbar tribal leaders and officials at Mansour Hotel, Baghdad, which killed 13, some prominent figures, was proclaimed by the ISIS to have been in retaliation for the rape of a Sunni woman by Iraqi police. Security at the hotel, which is some 100 meters outside the Green Zone, was provided by a British contractor that apparently hired guerrilla fighters to provide physical security. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi released an audio tape that issued an ultimatum to Iran. He said: We are giving the Persians, and especially the rulers of Iran, a two-month period to end all kinds of support for the Iraqi Shia government and to stop direct and indirect intervention ... otherwise a severe war is waiting for you. He further warned Arab states from doing business with Iran. Iran supports the Iraqi government which many see as anti-Sunni. Furthermore, Iran is believed to support Shiite militias, such as that of Muqtada al-Sadr, which have attacked Sunni groups and populations. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the 25 January 2010 Baghdad bombings attack that killed 41 people. The group claimed credit for the 4 April 2010 Baghdad bombings that killed 42 people and Injured 224. On 17 June 2010, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on Central Bank of Iraq that killed 18 people and 55 wounded. On 19 August 2010, a statement posted on a website often used by the mujahideen, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS), a local al Qaeda umbrella group, claimed responsibility for the 17 August 2010 Baghdad bombings and October 2010 bombings. All affected were Shia and western forces. The statement, which appears to be the first reaction of any group affiliated with al Qaeda to the ongoing protests in Egypt as part of the 2011 Arab Spring Movement, was issued on jihadist forums on February 8, according to the US group. The message, addressed to the protesters, says that the “market of jihad” has opened in Egypt and “the doors of martyrdom have opened,” and every able-bodied man must participate. The group urged Egyptians to ignore the “ignorant deceiving ways” of secularism, democracy, and “rotten pagan nationalism.” “Your jihad,” the message said, is in support of Islam, the weak and oppressed in Egypt, for “your people” in Gaza and Iraq, and “for every Muslim who was touched by the oppression of the tyrant of Egypt and his masters in Washington and Tel Aviv,” read a translation of the text provided by the SITE Intelligence Group. In July 2013, the group carried out a mass breakout of its imprisoned members held at Iraqs Abu Ghraib prison. It was reported that over 600 prisoners escaped, including senior commanders of the group. The Islamic State issued an online statement claiming responsibility for the prison break, describing the operation as involving 12 car bombs, numerous martyrdom bombers and mortar and rockets fire. It was described as the culmination of a one-year campaign called “breaking the walls”, launched in July 21, 2012 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and aiming to replenish the groups ranks by freeing their comrades. In early August 2013 ISIS led the final assault in the Siege of Menagh Air Base. In September 2013 ISIS over-ran Azaz, taking it from an FSA-affiliated rebel brigade. FSA battalion chief Kamal Hamami — better known by his nom-de-guerre Abu Bassir Al-Jeblawi — was killed in July by the groups Coastal Region Emir after his convoy was stopped at an Islamic State checkpoint in Latakias rural northern highlands. Al-Jeblawi was traveling to visit the Al-Izz Bin Abdulsalam Brigade operating in the region when group members refused his passage, resulting in an exchange of fire in which Al-Jeblawi received a fatal chest wound. In April 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audio statement, in which he announced that Jabhat al-Nusra had been established, financed and supported by the Islamic State of Iraq. Al-Baghdadi declared that the two groups were officially merging under the name Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham. The leader of Jabhat Al-Nusra, Abu Golani, issued a statement denying the merger and complaining that neither he nor anyone else in the leadership had been consulted about it. In June 2013 Al Jazeera reported that it had obtained a letter written by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, addressed to both leaders, in which he ruled against the merger and appointed an emissary to oversee relations between them and put an end to tensions. In the same month, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audio message rejecting Zawahiris ruling and declaring the merger was going ahead. Today ISIS is Al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, and the Al Nusra Front is another Al Qaeda in Syria. They have vowed never to stop till the caliphate has been re-established, since the British empire dismantled it in 1921 with the help of the secular young Turks led by Mutapha Kemal Attaturk the traitor of Islam.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:56:13 +0000
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