By Pamela Hess
United Press International, 24 September 2004.
WASHINGTON, (UPI) Sept. 24 , 2004 - There are at least seven separate insurgent groups fighting U.S. troops and nine groups carrying out the kidnapping and killings of foreigners in Iraq, according to an Iraqi newspaper.
There are three main Sunni groups, and five separate factions within them; two Baathist groups; and two Shiite insurgent organizations, according to a recent issue of the Baghdad al-Zawra in Arabic -- a weekly published by the Iraqi Journalists Association and translated into English by the CIA.
The groups are comprised of individual cells that are only loosely affiliated, a supposition endorsed by military intelligence officials in interviews with United Press International.
The majority of these groups do not know their leadership, the sources of their financing, or who provides them with weapons, the Sunday's report stated.
A senior U.S. commander in Iraq agreed with that assessment.
The leadership, funding, and financing is coming from the more dangerous group of terrorist organizations and Baath identified (by the report). Those groups are essential elements of control and influence, he told UPI Friday.
A significant percentage of the foot soldiers of these groups, however, are nationalist Iraqis who simply want the occupation to end, and who are likely getting paid to fight.
To that end, some U.S. commanders are using novel approaches in areas of Iraq where the insurgency is not deeply entrenched and where Iraqi security forces have some level of capability.
There is probably a large element fighting us right now that just wants us to go away, the commander said.
Working on the idea that the U.S. presence is the primary irritant to many Iraqis feeding the insurgency, U.S. forces are trying to minimize their presence; essentially, taking the insurgent's main target away.
In those areas where the local government is willing to exert some control, and the local ISF display some competence, we take the U.S. target away while maintaining intelligence 'eyes and ears' in the city. It seems to be working, but in this hall of mirrors, you never know, the commander said.
The composition of the insurgency also begs the question of what will happen after U.S. troops pull out -- a possibility still at least several years in the future by most estimates.
"If the coalition leaves, will the nationalistic resistance be capable of either weaning themselves from or defeating the terrorists and Baath? What is
the future of Iraq? An Arabic-Islamic democracy? A fundamentalist 1979 Iran? Or a Talibanized Afghanistan? We're aiming for the former.
"Our method is to develop mechanisms of the rule of law and its essential element of security so that we can go home and leave an Iraq capable of defending itself from the latter. But that method, of itself, feeds the enemy some strength," he said.
The Iraqi newspaper divides the resistance up into two groups, drawing a sharp line between those fighting the insurgents and those kidnapping and sometimes executing foreigners. At least 24 hostages have been slain so far.
The resistance began with scattered Islamic Sunni groups without a unifying bond to bind them together. As they grew, they gradually combined themselves into larger groups.
Most of their weapons come from the vast stocks of armaments left behind by Saddam Hussein's regime and that were looted immediately after the war.
The groups are united by their agreement on the need to put an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq.
These groups have common denominators, the most important of which perhaps are focusing on killing U.S. soldiers, rejecting the abductions and the killing of hostages, rejecting the attacks on Iraqi policemen, and respecting the beliefs of other religions, the newspaper asserts.
These groups believe that if an Iraqi is in favor of the occupation, he is a spy and a traitor who should be liquidated.
The newspaper identifies the Sunni groups as follows:
-- The Iraqi National Islamic Resistance, the 1920 Revolution Brigades.
It emerged for the first time on July 16, 2003. Its declared aim is to liberate Iraqi territory from foreign military and political occupation and to establish a liberated and independent Iraqi state on Islamic bases. It launches armed attacks against the U.S. forces. The attacks primarily are concentrated in the area west of Baghdad, in the regions of Abu Ghraib, Khan Dari and Fallujah. It has other activities in the governorates of Ninwi, Diyali and Anbar. The group usually takes into consideration the opinions of a number of Sunni authorities in Iraq.
The group's statements, in which it claims responsibility for its operations against the U.S. occupation, are usually distributed at the gates of the mosques after the Friday prayers.
A recent statement issued by the group on Aug. 19, 2004, explained that the group, during the period between July 27 and Aug. 7, 2004, carried out an average of 10 operations every day, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of U.S. soldiers and the destruction of dozens of U.S. armored vehicles.
The most prominent operations of the group during that period were the shooting down of a helicopter in the Abu Ghraib region on Aug. 1, 2004, and the shooting down of a Chinook helicopter near Fallujah, by the Martyr Nur-al-Din Brigade on Aug. 9, 2004.
-- The National Front for the Liberation of Iraq.
The front includes 10 resistance groups. It was formed days after the occupation of Iraq in April 2003. It consists of nationalists and Islamists. Its activities are concentrated in Irbil and Kirkuk in northern Iraq; in Fallujah, Samarra and Tikrit in central Iraq, and in Basra and Babil governorates in the south, in addition to Diyali governorate in the east.
Generally speaking, its activities are considered smaller than those of the 1920 Revolution Brigades.
-- The Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front, known as JAMI.
The front is the newest Sunni resistance group to fight the U.S. occupation. It includes a number of small resistance factions that formed a coalition. Its activities against the occupation forces are concentrated in the two governorates of Ninwi and Diyali. It announced its existence for the first time on May 30, 2004.
In its statements, JAMI warns against the Jewish conspiracies in Iraq.
According to statements issued by the front, JAMI's military wing -- the Salah-al-Din and Sayf-Allah al-Maslul Brigades -- has carried out dozens of operations against the U.S. occupation forces. The most prominent of these operations were in Ninwi governorate. These operations included the shelling of the occupation command headquarters and the semi-daily shelling of the Mosul airport. Further more, JAMI targets the members of U.S. intelligence and kills them in the al-Faysaliyah area in Mosul and also in the governorate of Diyali, where the front's al-Rantisi Brigade sniped a U.S. soldier and used mortars to shell al-Faris Airport.
-- Other small factions.
There are other factions that claim responsibility for some limited military operations against the U.S. forces. However, some of these factions have joined larger brigades that are more active and more experienced in fighting. These factions include:
Hamzah Faction -- A Sunni group that appeared for the first time on Oct. 10, 2003, in Fallujah and called for the release of a local sheik known as Sheik Jamal Nidal, who was arrested by the U.S. forces. There is no other information available about this group.
Iraqi Liberation Army -- This group first emerged on July 15, 2003. It warned the foreign countries against sending troops to Iraq and pledged to attack those troops if they were sent.
Awakening and Holy War -- A group of Arab Sunni mujahedin. It is active in Fallujah. It filmed an operation on videotape and sent the tape to Iranian television on July 7, 2003. On the tape, the group said that Saddam and the United States were two sides of the same coin. The group said that it carried out operations against the U.S. occupation in Fallujah and other cities.
The White Banners -- A group of local Arab Sunni mujahedin that is active in the Sunni triangle and probably in other areas. Originally, they were opposed to Saddam Hussein, and in alliance with the Muslim Youths and Muhammad's Army. The group criticized the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. So far, there is no information about their operations.
al-Haq Army -- There is not much information about this group, but it consists of Arab Sunni Muslims, has some nationalistic tendencies, and is not loyal to Saddam.
-- Baathist factions.
These factions are loyal to the Baath Party and the previous regime of Saddam Hussein. They do not constitute a proportion of the actual resistance in Iraq. Their activities are more or less restricted to financing of resistance operations. The factions that still exist secretly in the Iraqi arena include:
al-Awdah (The Return) -- This faction is concentrated in northern Iraq -- Samarra, Tikrit, al-Dur and Mosul. It consists of members of the former intelligence apparatus.
Saddam's Fedayeen -- The faction was formed by the Saddam regime before the U.S. invasion. Now, it is rumored that many of its members have abandoned their loyalty to Saddam and have joined Islamic and national groups on the side of the 11 September Revolutionary Group and the Serpent's Head Movement.
-- The Shiite resistance groups.
Al-Sadr group -- The al-Mahdi Army is considered the only militia experiment to emerge after the occupation. In July 2003, Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr announced the formation of the al-Mahdi Army, but not as a force directed against the occupation. Within a short period, Sadr gathered between 10,000 and 15,000 well-trained youths, the majority of whom were from the poor of the Sadr City, al-Shulah, and the southern cities. The U.S. military estimated the size of the Mahdi army to be about 6,000 prior to the major battles in April and August in Najaf.
Imam Ali Bin-Abi-Talib Jihadi Brigades -- This Shiite group appeared for the first time on Oct. 12, 2003. It vowed to kill the soldiers of any country sending its troops to support the coalition forces, and threatened to transfer the battleground to the territories of such countries if they were to send troops. The group also threatened to assassinate all the members of the Interim Governing Council and any Iraqi cooperating with the coalition forces. In addition, group announced that Najaf and Karbala were the battlegrounds in which it would target the U.S. forces.
-- The factions that carry out the abductions and slayings include:
Assadullah Brigades -- The brigades said in a statement, No. 50, The mujahedin is entitled to capture any infidel who enters Iraq, whether he works for a construction company or in any other job, because he could be warrior, and the mujahedin has the right to kill him or take him as a prisoner.
The activities of this group are concentrated in Baghdad and its suburbs. The group detained the third most senior diplomat at the Egyptian Embassy to Iraq, Muhammad Mamduh Hilmi Qutb, in July 2004 in response to statements by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif that Egypt was prepared to offer its security expertise to the Interim Iraqi Government. The diplomat was released after nearly a week.
Islamic Retaliation Movement -- One of the movements that adopt the course of abductions. It abducted and then released the U.S. Marine of Lebanese origin, Wasif Ali Hassoun.
Islamic Anger Brigades -- The group that abducted 15 Lebanese in June 2004 and then released them, with the exception of Husayn Ulayyan, an employee of a communications company, whom it killed.
Khalid-Bin-al-Walid Brigades and Iraq's Martyrs Brigades -- They are believed to have abducted Italian journalist Enzo Bladoni in August 2004 and killed him.
The Black Banners Group -- A battalion of the Secret Islamic Army. The group abducted three Indians, two Kenyans and an Egyptian working for a Kuwaiti company operating in Iraq. The aim was to compel the company to stop its activities in Iraq. The hostages were later released.
The Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Group.
The al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad Group.
The Islamic Army in Iraq -- A secret organization that adopts the ideology of Al-Qaida. The organization abducted Iranian Consul Feredion Jahani and the two French journalists, Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot.
Ansar al-Sunnah Movement -- The movement abducted 12 Nepalese on Aug. 23, 2004 and killed them.
The last four groups are clearly intellectually close to the beliefs and thinking of al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Ladin.
The first case of hostage killing was that of U.S. national Nicholas Berg in May 2004, and the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi group claimed responsibility for it.
After that, the al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad Group killed South Korean Kim Il, who was working for a Korean company with a contract with the U.S. military.
Hostages slain so far include: two Italians, two U.S. nationals, two Pakistanis, one Egyptian, one Turk, one Lebanese, one Bulgarian, one South Korean and 12 Nepalese.
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Citation: Pamela Hess. "Iraqi newspaper identifies insurgent groups," United Press International, 24 September 2004..
Original URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040924-042817-8040r.htm
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