| Al-Qaeda in Iraq (Organization of Jihad's Base in the land of two rivers) | |
|---|---|
| القاعدة في العراق | |
.svg) One of several flags used by AQI in their video releases; others used white text for the circle and the shahada. | |
| Leaders | Abu Musab al-Zarqawi † (17 October 2004 – 7 June 2006) Abu Ayyub al-Masri † (7 June 2006 – 15 October 2006) |
| Dates of operation | 17 October 2004[1] – 15 October 2006 |
| Active regions | Iraq |
| Ideology | Salafi Jihadism[2] Anti-Shi'ism[3] Qutbism |
| Part of |  Al-Qaeda Mujahideen Shura Council (from January 2006) |
| Opponents |  Coalition forces Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority Islamic Army in Iraq Ansar al-Sunna Hamas of Iraq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq[4] Mahdi Army[5] Jordan Israel United Nations |
| Battles and wars | Iraq War |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | Iraq[6] Malaysia[7] Saudi Arabia[8] |
Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn[9] (Arabic: تنظيم قاعدة الجهاد في بلاد الرافدين, romanized: tanẓīm qā‘idat al-jihād fī bilād ar-rāfidayn, lit. 'Organization of Jihad's Base in the land of two rivers'), more commonly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq[1][10][11] (Arabic: القاعدة في العراق, romanized: al-Qā'idah fī al-ʿIrāq, abbr. AQI), was a Salafi jihadist organization[2] affiliated with Al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004,[1] and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targeted bombing on June 7, 2006 in Hibhib, Iraq by the United States Air Force.
The group was started as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. In 2004 it pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, AQI was engaged in various militant activities during the early stages of the Iraqi insurgency, with the objective of expelling the U.S.-led coalition and establishing an Islamic state in Iraq. In January 2006, AQI and seven other Sunni guerrilla groups formed the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), which on 15 October 2006 disbanded to form the "Islamic State of Iraq."
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
JamestownFoundation20041018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "The War between ISIS and al-Qaeda for Supremacy of the Global Jihadist Movement" (PDF). Washington Institute for Near East Policy. June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^ "Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia". Al Jazeera. 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "موقع المقاومة الإسلامية عصائب أهل الحق - الشهيد السعيد لـيث صـــاحب كـــــان مــــــؤمناً أن طريـــــق أهـــل الحـــق هــــــــو طريـــــــــــق الخـــــــــــــــــــــــلاص والتحــــــــــرُّر". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
- ^ "Mahdi Army | Mapping Militant Organizations". Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Iraq issues 'most wanted' terror list". 4 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- ^ Archived copy Archived 9 October 2022 at Ghost Archive
- ^ "سياسي / وزارة الداخلية: بيان بالمحظورات الأمنية والفكرية على المواطن والمقيم ، وإمهال المشاركين بالقتال خارج المملكة 15 يوما إضافية لمراجعة النفس والعودة إلى وطنهم / إضافة أولى وكالة الأنباء السعودية". Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ "Govt bans al-Zarqawi terror group". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 February 2005. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Msnbc20041018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gordon Corera (16 December 2004). "Unraveling Zarqawi's al-Qaeda connection". Jamestown. Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.