Mysterious Iraqi terror group gains clout
Homegrown Ansar al-Sunnah Army nearly outshines al-QaidaUpdated: 5:13 p.m. ET
Dec. 25, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Ansar al-Sunnah Army has emerged from its roots as a little
known militant group operating in northern Iraq to become the country’s
deadliest terror network, capable of carrying out spectacular strikes like last
week’s suicide bombing at a U.S. base and virtually eclipsing al-Qaida’s
cell in the war-torn nation.
Unlike al-Qaida, Ansar al-Sunnah is believed to be made up mainly of Iraqis,
and its apparent strategy of targeting only Americans and those viewed as
collaborating with them — Iraqi security forces and Kurds — may have
increased its support, in contrast to other groups that have hit more clearly
Iraqi civilian targets.
Designs on an Islamic state
Nearly five months after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April
2003, Ansar al-Sunnah’s first statement surfaced on the Internet, pronouncing
itself “a group of jihadists, scholars, and political and military experts”
dedicated to creating an Islamic state in Iraq.
The statement was signed by the group’s “emir,” or leader, the previously
unknown Abu Abdullah al-Hassan Ibn Mahmoud.
Since then, it has carried out numerous bombings and attacks, particularly in
northern Iraq — and shown its ruthlessness with the slaying in August of 12
kidnapped Nepalese construction workers, releasing video showing their deaths.
In its deadliest operation, Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for Feb. 1
suicide bombings against two Kurdish political parties in Irbil, killing 109
people.
In the Irbil attack, the group slipped bombers into the Kurdish party offices
during celebrations to set off their explosives. Tuesday’s attack on U.S.
forces at Mosul showed even greater sophistication and planning: a bomber —
possibly in an Iraqi military uniform — entered a dining tent on the heavily
guarded American base and detonated the blast during lunch, killing 22 people,
mostly American soldiers and civilians.
Now the group is warning Iraqis not to participate in crucial Jan. 30
elections, promising to attack polling stations.
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Shadowy network
But who exactly is behind Ansar al-Sunnah and how it was formed remains a
mystery. Some experts believe the group splintered from Ansar al-Islam, an
al-Qaida-linked group established in September 2001.
Ansar al-Islam was founded by Mullah Krekar, who has been living as a refugee
in Norway since 1991. The group vowed to set up a conservative Islamic state in
northern Iraq, and its members have trained in Afghanistan and provided safe
haven to al-Qaida members fleeing the U.S. invasion there.
The offshoot group may have changed its name to Ansar al-Sunnah — Arabic for
“supporters of the sunnah,” of the traditions of Prophet Muhammad — as an
attempt to appeal to Iraq’s minority Sunni Arabs, experts suggest.
There is nothing to corroborate this theory except that the group mainly
operates in northern Iraq where Ansar al-Islam is based.
Mohammed Salah, a Cairo-based expert on Islamic militancy, said research
indicates that the Ansar al-Sunnah Army was established by a mix of various
Sunni Muslim anti-occupation factions that came together after the end of the
war.
They chose the name Ansar al-Sunnah (loosely translated as “supporters of the
traditions of Prophet Muhammad”) to distinguish the Sunni group from Shiite
militias, Salah said.
The group now seems to include nationalists and other secular people opposed to
the U.S. presence in Iraq who are not typical religious fundamentalists or
extremists but who “chose the cover of Islam as a propaganda that sells
well.”
Democracy targeted
The group seeks an Islamic government and Islamic law in Iraq, stressing its
opposition to democracy, which it says replaces God’s rightful rule with that
of man.
“We believe democracy is an atheist call that idolizes human beings,” says
a manifesto detailing Ansar al-Sunnah’s ideology.
The group’s Web site, which also has a Kurdish page, features videos of
aspiring suicide bombers and footage of attacks and beheadings. Statements on
the site dismiss Iraqi politicians as “American puppets and agents” and
condemns “collaborators” in the U.S.-trained Iraqi army and police.
Among its targets have been Kurds, with the group claiming to be behind the
kidnapping and beheading of several Kurdish politicians. The Kurdish parties of
northern Iraq are archrivals of Krekar’s Ansar al-Islam.
On its Web site, Ansar al-Sunnah also denounces the upcoming elections, calling
on Muslims to shun the ballot boxes as “centers of atheism” and adding:
“We warn everyone that the Mujahedeen will be attacking polling stations.”
In November, Ansar al-Sunnah said it collaborated in two attacks with other
radical organizations — al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, and the Islamic Army in Iraq. However, similar announcements have
not been repeated since.
Relationship to al-Qaida unclear
Still, it remains unclear whether Ansar al-Sunnah is linked to Osama bin
Laden’s network, or whether it is actually competing with it.
U.S. officials have said Ansar al-Islam, its alleged parent group, is believed
linked to al-Zarqawi.
But while al-Zarqawi’s Tawhid and Jihad group in October declared allegiance
to bin Laden, changing its name to al-Qaida in Iraq, no such announcement was
made by Ansar al-Sunnah.
Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna said Zarqawi’s group allied
itself to al-Qaida because it seems to be expanding its recruitment efforts to
the entire Middle East and Europe as opposed to Ansar al-Sunnah’s
“exclusive Iraqi focus.”
While Ansar al-Sunnah’s targets have mainly been coalition troops, Kurds and
“collaborators” with the coalition, al-Qaida’s operations included
attacks that killed many Iraqi civilians, he said.
“Ansar al-Sunnah Army seems more organized and it’s generated more support
than al-Qaida in Iraq ... al-Qaida’s attacks have often alienated significant
support,” Gunaratna said.
With or without al-Qaida, it looks like Ansar al-Sunnah is here to stay.
“I think Ansar al-Sunnah will, as an organization, last longer and will enjoy
a broader base of support than al-Qaida in Iraq,” Gunaratna said.
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