al-Qaeda in Iraq

The group was founded by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 1999 under the name Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad ({{Langx|ar|جماعة التوحيد والجهاد|lit=Congregation of Monotheism and Jihad}}). The group is believed to have started bomb attacks in Iraq as of August 2003, five months after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Iraq War, targeting UN representatives, Iraqi Shiite institutions, the Jordanian embassy, provisional Iraqi government institutions. After it pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in October 2004, its official name became Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn.{{cite journal|last1=Pool|first1=Jeffrey|title=Zarqawi's Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu'Asker Al-Battar, Issue 21|journal=Terrorism Monitor|date=16 December 2004|volume=2|issue=24|page=The Jamestown Foundation|url=http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=400&issue_id=3179&article_id=2369020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930180847/http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=400&issue_id=3179&article_id=2369020|archive-date=30 September 2007|access-date=30 July 2014}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6268680|agency=Associated Press|publisher=NBC News|title=Al-Zarqawi group vows allegiance to bin Laden|date=18 October 2004|access-date=13 July 2007|archive-date=14 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014062433/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6268680/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information |first=Bureau of Public Affairs |date=2006-05-18 |title=Chapter 5 -- Country Reports: Middle East and North Africa Overview |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64344.htm |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=2001-2009.state.gov |language=en}}{{cite news|title=Zarqawi pledges allegiance to Osama|url=http://www.dawn.com/2004/10/18/top7.htm|date=18 October 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229020549/http://www.dawn.com/2004/10/18/top7.htm|archive-date=29 December 2007|agency=Agence France-Presse|work=Dawn|access-date=13 July 2007}}

On 7 June 2006, the leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and his spiritual adviser Abu Abdul Rahman, were both killed by a U.S. airstrike with two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs on a safe house near Baqubah. The group's leadership was then assumed by the Egyptian militant Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.{{cite news|title=Al-Qaeda in Iraq names new head|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5073092.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=12 June 2006|access-date=27 February 2015|archive-date=29 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029024817/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5073092.stm|url-status=live}}

In a letter to al-Zarqawi in July 2005, Al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri outlined a four-stage plan beginning with taking control of Iraq. Step 1: expulsion of US forces from Iraq. Step 2: establishing in Iraq an Islamic authority—a caliphate. Step 3: "the jihad wave" should be extended to "the secular countries neighbouring Iraq". Step 4: "the clash with Israel".{{cite news|last=Whitaker|first=Brian|title=Revealed: Al-Qaida plan to seize control of Iraq|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/13/alqaida.iraq|work=The Guardian|date=13 October 2005|access-date=19 September 2014|archive-date=22 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122133922/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/13/alqaida.iraq|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Iraq#2003–2007}}

{{History of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}}

File:US Navy 041117-N-4388F-004 Construction Electrician 3rd Class Joe Tank mans a turret mounted M-240B machine gun atop a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) to provide security while Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile.jpg during the Second Battle of Fallujah (November 2004)]]

At the end of October 2004, Al-Qaeda in Iraq kidnapped Japanese citizen Shosei Koda.{{cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2004/10/28/national/japanese-traveler-held-hostage-in-iraq/ |title=Japanese traveler held hostage in Iraq |date=28 October 2004 |access-date=1 November 2019 |newspaper=Japan Times |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101224401/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2004/10/28/national/japanese-traveler-held-hostage-in-iraq/ |url-status=live }} In an online video, AQI gave Japan 48 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq, otherwise Koda's fate would be "the same as that of his predecessors, [Nicholas] Berg and [Kenneth] Bigley and other infidels".{{cite news|title=Group seizes Japanese man in Iraq|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3956975.stm|access-date=29 December 2014|newspaper=BBC|date=27 October 2004|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306161530/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3956975.stm|url-status=live}} While Japan refused to comply with this demand, Koda was beheaded, and his dismembered body found on 30 October.{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/japan-refuses-to-withdraw-troops-in-hostage-drama-pk5d3lxflm9 |title=Japan refuses to withdraw troops in hostage drama |first=Jenny |last=Booth |date=27 October 2004 |access-date=1 November 2019 |newspaper=The Times |publisher=Times Newspapers Limited |archive-date=1 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101224402/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/japan-refuses-to-withdraw-troops-in-hostage-drama-pk5d3lxflm9 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2005}}

According to internal documents seized in 2008, AQI began in 2005 systematically killing Iraqi tribesmen and nationalist insurgents wherever they began to rally against it.{{cite news|last=Ware|first=Michael|title=Papers give peek inside al Qaeda in Iraq|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/11/al.qaeda.iraq/index.html?iref=topnews|publisher=CNN|date=11 June 2008|access-date=15 December 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035122/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/11/al.qaeda.iraq/index.html?iref=topnews|url-status=live}}

Attacks in 2005 claimed by AQI include:

• 30 January: AQI launched attacks on voters during the Iraqi legislative election in January.{{cite news|title=Country Reports on Terrorism|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm|access-date=25 July 2014|publisher=United States Department of State|date=28 April 2006|archive-date=13 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113103438/https://2001-2009.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/65275.htm|url-status=live}} In 100 armed attacks, 44 people were killed, although some attacks may have been carried out by other groups. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said: "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy (...)".{{Cite web|last=Agencies|date=24 January 2005|title=Bomber strikes near Allawi office|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/24/iraq|access-date=3 August 2020|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=16 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116000442/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/24/iraq|url-status=live}}
• 28 February: in the southern city of Hillah, a car bomb struck a crowd of police and Iraqi National Guard recruits, killing 125 people.{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/fast-facts-abu-musab-al-zarqawi|title=Fast Facts: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi|date=8 June 2006|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Fox News Channel|access-date=29 December 2014|archive-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209164730/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198661,00.html|url-status=live}}
• 2 April: the group launched a combined suicide and conventional attack on Abu Ghraib prison in April.
• 7 May: in Baghdad, two explosives-laden cars were used against an American security company convoy. 22 people are killed, including two Americans.
• 6 July: AQI claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and execution of Egypt's ambassador to Iraq, Ihab el-Sherif.{{cite news|title=Al-Qaeda claims to have killed Egyptian envoy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/world/africa/07iht-web.0707egypt.html?_r=0|work=The New York Times|date=7 July 2005|access-date=20 February 2017|archive-date=28 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128071303/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/world/africa/07iht-web.0707egypt.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Caroll|first1=Rory|last2=Borger|first2=Julian|title=Egyptian envoy to Iraq killed, says al-Qaida|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,,1523750,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 July 2005|location=London|access-date=13 December 2016|archive-date=16 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316065905/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/08/alqaida.iraq|url-status=live}} In a message posted on the Internet, Zarqawi said: "The Islamic court of the al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of Two Rivers has decided to refer the ambassador of the state of Egypt, an ally of the Jews and the Christians, to the mujahideens so that they can execute him."{{cite news |url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13946 |title=Al-Qaeda threatens to kill abducted Egyptian envoy |publisher=Middle East Online |date=6 July 2005 |access-date=30 December 2014 |archive-date=30 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630162034/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13946 |url-status=dead }}
• 15–17 July: a three-day series of suicide attacks, including the Musayyib marketplace bombing, left 150 people dead and 260 wounded. AQI claimed that the bombings were part of a campaign to take control of Baghdad.{{cite news|last=Howard|first=Michael|title=Three days of suicide bombs leave 150 dead|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,,1530732,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 July 2005|location=London|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-date=16 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316093951/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jul/18/iraq.iraq|url-status=live}}
• 19 August: In the Jordanian city of Aqaba, a rocket attack kills a Jordanian soldier.
• 14 September: Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a single-day series of more than a dozen bombings in Baghdad, which killed about 160 people, most of whom were unemployed Shia workers.{{cite news|title=Another wave of bombings hit Iraq|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028173331/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/15/africa/web.0915iraq.php|url=http://www.alhadath-tv.com/2014/10/17/%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%aa%d8%b6%d8%b1%d8%a8-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%ae-%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad/|work=International Herald Tribune|date=15 September 2005|archive-date=28 October 2007|url-status=dead}} Al-Zarqawi declared "all-out war" on Shiites, Iraqi troops and the Iraqi government in a statement.
• Friday 16 September: a suicide bomb attack outside a Shiite mosque 200 km north of Baghdad killed 13 worshippers.
• 24 October: AQI made coordinated suicide attacks outside the Sheraton Ishtar and Palestine Hotel in Baghdad in October.
• 9 November: in the Jordanian capital Amman, three bomb attacks against hotels killed 60 people.
• 18 November: AQI claimed responsibility for a series of Shia mosque bombings in the city of Khanaqin, which killed at least 74 people.{{cite news|last=Tavernise|first=Sabrina|title=20 die as insurgents in Iraq target Shiites|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/16/news/iraq.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127045649/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/16/news/iraq.php|archive-date=27 January 2008|newspaper=The New York Times|date=17 September 2005}}

{{See also|Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2006}}

• The 5 January bombings on Shi'ite civilians in Karbala and Ramadi, near a religious shrine and a police recruiting centre, were blamed by some residents on al Qaeda in Iraq.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010500351.html Insurgents Kill 140 as Iraq Clashes Escalate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003171025/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010500351.html |date=3 October 2018 }}. Washington Post, 6 January 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2015. File:Al-Askari Mosque 2006.jpg, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, after the first attack by Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006]]
• The 22 February 2006 al-Askari Mosque bombing was blamed by a U.S. intelligence officer in March 2007 and by 'Iraqi officials'{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda leader in Iraq 'killed by insurgents'|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-05-01/al-qaeda-leader-in-iraq-killed-by-insurgents/2537000|publisher=ABC News|date=1 May 2007|access-date=5 December 2014|archive-date=15 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915152428/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-05-01/al-qaeda-leader-in-iraq-killed-by-insurgents/2537000|url-status=live}} in May 2007, on AQI.
• On 3 June 2006, AQI abducted and killed four Russian diplomats in Iraq.
• 16 June 2006, a U.S. checkpoint near Baghdad was attacked, one U.S. soldier killed and two abducted. Those abducted, Thomas Lowell Tucker and Kristian Menchaca, were found on 19 June, having been tortured and killed. The next day, Mujahedeen Shura Council of Iraq (MSC)—an organization including Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn—claimed to have "slaughtered" the two Americans. Three weeks later, MSC issued a video showing the mutilated corpses of Tucker and Menchada, purportedly as revenge for the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl, in March 2006, by U.S. soldiers of the same brigade.

Autumn 2006, AQI took over Baqubah, the capital of Diyala Governorate, and before March 2007, AQI or its umbrella organization 'Islamic State of Iraq' (ISI) claimed Baqubah as its capital.{{cite web|url=http://www.1-20infantry.org/5-20pages/oif06-07.htm|title=TASK FORCE 5-20 INFANTRY REGIMENT OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 06-07 (under section 'A Commander's Perspective')

|publisher=U.S. Army 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment

|access-date=23 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118195615/http://www.1-20infantry.org/5-20pages/oif06-07.htm |archive-date=18 November 2008 |url-status=usurped}}

• The US suggested that 'al Qaeda' was involved in the wave of chlorine bombings in Iraq, October 2006–June 2007, which affected hundreds of people, albeit with few fatalities.{{cite news|title=U.S. says Iraq chlorine bomb factory was al Qaeda's|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSPAR44485120070224|date=24 February 2007|access-date=4 December 2014|publisher=Reuters|archive-date=22 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222065842/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSPAR44485120070224|url-status=live}}

:Further violent activities in Iraq after 13 October 2006 blamed on 'al Qaeda (in Iraq)' are listed in article Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

{{Main|Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)}}

September 2005, after a U.S.-Iraqi offensive on the town of Tal Afar, al-Zarqawi declared "all-out war" on Shia Muslims in Iraq. On 22 February 2006, unknown perpetrators (likely to be Sunni's) bombed the al-Askari Shia mosque, which started the two year-long Sunni–Shia civil war until its end on 15 May 2008.Anthony H. Cordesman (2011), [https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/110209_Iraq-PattofViolence.pdf "Iraq: Patterns of Violence, Casualty Trends and Emerging Security Threats"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012070900/https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/publication/110209_Iraq-PattofViolence.pdf|date=12 October 2017}}, p. 33. Various parties participated during the civil war, but the main combatants were sectarian Shia and Sunni armed groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Mahdi Army, in addition to the Iraqi government alongside American-led coalition forces.{{Cite web |title=Powell: Iraq in civil war |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/11/30/powell-iraq-in-civil-war |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Shuster |first=David |date=28 November 2006 |title=Is conflict in Iraq a civil war? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15925399 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101185602/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15925399 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 January 2022 |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2017-07-20 |title=After Mosul, Islamic State digs in for guerrilla warfare |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-insurgency-idUSKBN1A50ML |access-date=2022-01-01 |work=Reuters |page=Intelligence and security officials are bracing for the kind of devastating insurgency al Qaeda waged following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, pushing Iraq into a sectarian civil war which peaked in 2006–2007}}{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Sen. Reid: Iraq devolves into "civil war" - Jul 20, 2006 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/20/iraq.democrats/ |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=www.cnn.com}}{{Cite news |last=Sambanis |first=Nicholas |date=2006-07-23 |title=Opinion {{!}} It's Official: There Is Now a Civil War in Iraq |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/opinion/23sambanis.html |access-date=2022-01-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Waves of attacks on Sunni civilians by Shia militants started, followed by attacks on Shia civilians by Sunni militants.{{cite web |title='1,300 dead' in Iraq sectarian violence {{!}} Iraq |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/28/iraq1 |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=The Guardian}} The conflict escalated over the next several months until by late 2007, the National Intelligence Estimate described the conflict as having elements of a civil war.{{cite news |date=2 February 2007 |title=Elements of "civil war" in Iraq |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/middle_east/6324767.stm |access-date=2 January 2010 |work=BBC News |quote=A US intelligence assessment on Iraq says "civil war" accurately describes certain aspects of the conflict, including intense sectarian violence.}} In 2008, during the Sunni Awakening and the U.S. troop surge, violence declined dramatically.{{cite web |date=9 February 2011 |title=Iraq: Patterns of Violence, Casualty Trends and Emerging Security Threats |url=http://csis.org/files/publication/110209_Iraq-PattofViolence.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017004533/http://csis.org/files/publication/110209_Iraq-PattofViolence.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 |access-date=13 October 2013 |publisher=Center for Strategic & International Studies |page=14}}{{cite web |author=Kenneth Pollack |date=July 2013 |title=The File and Rise and Fall of Iraq |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/07/30%20fall%20rise%20fall%20iraq%20pollack/pollack_iraq.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106235704/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Papers/2013/07/30%20fall%20rise%20fall%20iraq%20pollack/Pollack_Iraq.pdf |archive-date=6 November 2013 |access-date=13 October 2013 |publisher=Brookings Institution}}

{{See also|Awakening movements in Iraq}}

In September–October 2005, there were signs of a split between homegrown Iraqi Sunni Arab insurgents who wanted Sunni influence in national politics restored,{{cite news|last1=Caroll|first1=Rory|last2=Mansour|first2=Osama|title=Al-Qaida in Iraq seizes border town as it mobilises against poll|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1564000,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=18 December 2014|date=7 September 2005|archive-date=16 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316093926/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/sep/07/iraq.alqaida|url-status=live}} and therefore supported a "no" vote in the 15 October 2005 referendum on a constitution,{{cite news|last=Abdul-Ahad|first=Ghaith|title=We don't need al-Qaida|url=https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,1601208,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=27 October 2005|access-date=18 December 2014|archive-date=15 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315192159/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/27/iraq.alqaida|url-status=live}} and al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq, which strove for a theocratic state and threatened to kill those who engaged in the national political process with Shiites and Kurds, including those who would take part in that referendum.

From mid-2006, AQI began to be pushed out of their strongholds in rural Anbar Province, from Fallujah to Qaim, by tribal leaders in open war. That campaign was assisted by the Iraqi government paying cash gifts and alleged salaries to tribal sheikhs of up to $5,000 a month.{{cite news|last=Beaumont|first=Peter|title=Iraqi tribes launch battle to drive al-Qaida out of troubled province|url=https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,,1886076,00.html|newspaper=The Guardian|date=3 October 2006|access-date=20 December 2014|archive-date=15 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200315192333/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/oct/03/alqaida.iraq|url-status=live}} In September 2006, 30 tribes in Anbar Province formed an alliance called the "Anbar Awakening" to fight AQI.{{cite news|last=Klein|first=Joe|title=Is al-Qaeda on the Run in Iraq? |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1624697,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706191851/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1624697,00.html|archive-date=6 July 2007|magazine=Time|date=23 May 2007 |url-status=dead|access-date=20 December 2014}}

{{see also|Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)}}

File:Beheading japanese.jpg before his beheading]]

AQI's efforts to recruit Iraqi Sunni nationalist and secular groups were undermined by its violent tactics against civilians and by its fundamentalist doctrine. In January 2006 it created an umbrella organization called the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), in an attempt to unify Sunni insurgents in Iraq.{{cite news|last1=DeYoung|first1=Karen|last2=Pincus|first2=Walter|title=Al-Qaeda in Iraq May Not Be Threat Here|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701373.html|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=18 March 2007|access-date=28 November 2014|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810150423/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701373.html|url-status=live}}

American military field leaders, in particular, Lt. General Michael Flynn, in late spring 2004, were 'strategically surprised' at the capabilities, scale of operations, and quality of leadership of the subject.Shultz, Richard H.; Joint Special Operations University (U.S.). (2016). Military innovation in war : it takes a learning organization, a case study of Task Force 714 in Iraq. MacDill Air Force Base, Florida : The JSOU Press. [https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo81311/ld.php.pdf JSOU report, 16-6.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725040049/https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/gpo81311/ld.php.pdf |date=25 July 2020 }} Retrieved 7 January 2020. Western media suggested that foreign fighters continued to flock to AQI.Het Nieuwsblad edition Oostende-Westhoek (Belgian newspaper), 26 March 2016. A secret U.S. Marine Corps intelligence report of August 2006 wrote that Iraq's Sunni minority had been increasingly abandoned by their religious and political leaders who had fled or been assassinated, was "embroiled in a daily fight for survival", feared "pogroms" by the Shiite majority, and was increasingly dependent on Al-Qaeda in Iraq as its only hope against growing Syrian dominance across Baghdad.

In western Iraq, AQI was entrenched, autonomous and financially independent, and therefore the death of AQI leader Al-Zarqawi in June 2006 had little impact on the structure or capabilities of AQI. Illicit oil trading provided them with millions of dollars, and their popularity was rising in western Iraq.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701287.html "Anbar Picture Grows Clearer, and Bleaker".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620035310/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701287.html |date=20 June 2019 }} Washington Post, 28 November 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2015.

In Anbar, most government institutions had disintegrated by August 2006, and AQI was the dominant power, the U.S. Marine Corps intelligence report said. In 2006, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research estimated that Al-Qaeda in Iraq's core membership was "more than 1,000".{{cite journal|last1=Tilghman|first1=Andrew|date=October 2007|title=The Myth of AQI|journal=Washington Monthly|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0710.tilghman.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070908125622/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0710.tilghman.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 September 2007|access-date=14 July 2014}}

{{see also|Islamic State of Iraq}}

On 13 October 2006, the MSC declared the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), comprising Iraq's six mostly Sunni Arab governorates: Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Ninawa, and "other parts of the governorate of Babel", with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi being announced as the self-proclaimed state's Emir.{{cite web|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2006/10/the_rump_islamic_emi.php|title=The Rump Islamic Emirate of Iraq|work=The Long War Journal|date=16 October 2006|access-date=2 June 2014|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424095722/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2006/10/the_rump_islamic_emi.php|url-status=live}} A Mujahideen Shura Council leader said: "God willing we will set the law of Sharia here and we will fight the Americans"; the Council urged on Sunni Muslim tribal leaders to join their separate Islamic state "to protect our religion and our people, to prevent strife and so that the blood and sacrifices of your martyrs are not lost".

Following the announcement, scores of gunmen took part in military parades in Ramadi and other Anbar towns to celebrate. In reality, the group did not control territory in Iraq.{{cite news|title=Gunmen in Iraq's Ramadi announce Sunni emirate|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-qaeda-idUKL1229983620061018|work=Reuters|date=18 October 2006|access-date=29 December 2014|archive-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121140312/http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-qaeda-idUKL1229983620061018|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Iraqi Insurgents Stage Defiant Parades|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000801.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=20 October 2006|access-date=29 December 2014|archive-date=3 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003164009/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102000801.html|url-status=live}}

In November, a statement was issued by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, leader of Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), announcing the disbanding of the MSC, in favor of the ISI.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} After this statement, there were a few more claims of responsibility issued under the name of the Mujahideen Shura Council, but these eventually ceased and were totally replaced by claims from the Islamic State of Iraq.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

In April 2007, Abu Ayyub al-Masri was given the title of 'Minister of War' within the ISI's ten-member cabinet.{{cite news|title=Islamic State of Iraq Announces Establishment of the Cabinet of its First Islamic Administration in Video Issued Through al-Furqan Foundation|url=http://www.siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications274907&Category=publications&Subcategory=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061225/http://www.siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications274907&Category=publications&Subcategory=0|archive-date=28 September 2007|access-date=20 July 2014|publisher=SITE Institute|date=19 April 2007}}

Image:WaziriyaAutobombeIrak.jpgings were a common form of attack in Iraq during the Coalition occupation]]

According to a report by US intelligence agencies in May 2007, the ISI planned to seize power in the central and western areas of the country and turn it into a Sunni Islamic state.{{cite news|last=Mahnaimi|first=Uzi|title=Al-Qaeda planning militant Islamic state within Iraq|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1782088.ece|newspaper=The Sunday Times|date=13 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524071632/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1782088.ece|archive-date=24 May 2011|location=London}}

By June 2007, the uncompromising brand of extreme fundamentalist Islam of AQI and the ISI had alienated more nationalist Iraqi strands of insurgency.{{cite news|last=Muir|first=Jim|title=US pits Iraqi Sunnis against al-Qaeda|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6740683.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=11 June 2007|access-date=28 November 2014|archive-date=27 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827125125/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6740683.stm|url-status=live}}

In November 2004, al-Zarqawi's network was the main target of the US Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah,{{Citation needed|reason=That's not what article "Second Battle of Fallujah" (Oper.Phant.F.) says—so where is this coming from? |date=November 2014}} but its leadership managed to escape the American siege and subsequent storming of the city.

On 7 June 2006, al-Zarqawi and his spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, were both killed by a U.S. airstrike with two 500 lb (230 kg) bombs on a safe house near Baqubah.

The group's leadership was then assumed by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.

U.S. intelligence in October 2005 published an intercepted letter purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri questioning AQI's tactic of indiscriminately attacking Shias in Iraq.{{cite news|title=Al-Qaeda disowns 'fake letter'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4339912.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=13 October 2005|access-date=4 December 2014|archive-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207115252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4339912.stm|url-status=live}}

In a video that appeared in December 2007, al-Zawahiri defended AQI, but distanced himself from the crimes against civilians committed by "hypocrites and traitors" that he said existed among its ranks.{{cite news|url=http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1678520501|title=British 'fleeing' claims al-Qaeda|agency=Adnkronos|date=17 December 2007|access-date=20 April 2012|archive-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512042036/http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1678520501|url-status=live}}

On 3 December 2004, AQI attempted unsuccessfully to blow up an Iraqi–Jordanian border crossing. In 2006 a Jordanian court sentenced al-Zarqawi and two of his associates to death in absentia for their involvement in the plot.{{cite news|last=Aloul|first=Sahar|title=Zarqawi handed second death penalty in Jordan|url=http://beta.inquirer.net/common/print.php?index=1&story_id=60417&site_id=38|publisher=The Inquirer|date=19 December 2005|agency=Agence France-Presse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029032906/http://beta.inquirer.net/common/print.php?index=1&story_id=60417&site_id=38|archive-date=29 October 2007}} AQI claimed to have carried out three attacks outside Iraq in 2005. In the most deadly, suicide bombs killed 60 people in Amman, Jordan on 9 November 2005.{{cite news|title=Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Amman blasts|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/world/africa/09iht-jordan.html?pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|date=10 November 2005|access-date=20 February 2017|archive-date=28 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128071304/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/09/world/africa/09iht-jordan.html?pagewanted=all|url-status=live}} They claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks which narrowly missed the American naval ships USS Kearsarge and USS Ashland in Jordan, and also targeted the city of Eilat in Israel, and for the firing of several rockets into Israel from Lebanon in December 2005. The affiliated groups were linked to regional attacks outside Iraq which were consistent with their stated plan, one example being the 2005 Sharm El Sheikh bombings in Egypt, which killed 88 people, many of them foreign tourists.

The Lebanese-Palestinian militant group Fatah al-Islam, which was defeated by Lebanese government forces during the 2007 Lebanon conflict, was linked to AQI and led by al-Zarqawi's former companion who had fought alongside him in Iraq.{{cite news|title=Fatah Islam: Obscure group emerges as Lebanon's newest security threat|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/20/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Violence-Militants.php|work=International Herald Tribune|date=20 May 2007|agency=Associated Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525035308/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/20/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Violence-Militants.php|archive-date=25 May 2007}} The group may have been linked to the little-known group called "Tawhid and Jihad in Syria",{{cite news |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/28/africa/ME-GEN-Syria-Al-Qaida.php |title=Al-Qaida inspired militant group calls on Syrians to kill country's president |agency=Associated Press |work=International Herald Tribune |date=28 May 2007 |access-date=6 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601162448/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/28/africa/ME-GEN-Syria-Al-Qaida.php |archive-date=1 June 2007 }} and may have influenced the Palestinian militant group in Gaza called Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114003008/http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=466¶m=GJN New Gaza Organization Vows Loyalty to Al-Qaeda], MEMRI 10 November 2008

{{Portal|Islam}}

• Islamic terrorism
• List of bombings during the Iraq War

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Armed Iraqi groups in the Iraq War and the Iraq Civil War}}

{{Al-Qaeda}}

{{Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}}

{{Militant Islamism in the Middle East}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2004 establishments in Iraq

Category:2006 disestablishments in Iraq

Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment in Iraq

Category:Branches of al-Qaeda

Category:Factions in the Iraq War

Category:Jihadist groups in Iraq

Category:History of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Iraq

Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Malaysia

Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Saudi Arabia

Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States

Category:Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist