Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan
Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan (Kurdish: ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستاندا), simply called Ansar al-Islam (Kurdish: ئەنسارولئیسلام), is a Kurdish Islamist militant and separatist group. It was established in northern Iraq around the Kurdistan Region by Kurdish Islamists who were former Taliban and former Al-Qaeda volunteers, which were coming back from Afghanistan in 2001 after the Fall of Kabul. Its motive is to establish an Islamic state around the Kurdistan region and to protect Kurdish people from other armed insurgent groups. It imposed strict Sharia in villages it controlled around Byara near the Iranian border.
| Ansar al-Islam | |
|---|---|
| ئەنسارولئیسلام | |
| |
| Leaders |
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| Dates of operation |
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| Motives | Establishment of an Islamic state in Kurdistan, and the protection of Kurds |
| Headquarters | Hamrin Mountains |
| Active regions | Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria |
| Ideology | |
| Size | Peak: 700+ |
| Part of | Rouse the Believers Operations Room |
| Allies |
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| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Iraq War |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | See Section |
The group was a designated terrorist organization in the United Nations, Australia, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and a known affiliate of the al-Qaeda network.
On 29 August 2014, 50 members and commanders of Ansar al-Islam announced that they were joining ISIS individually, however Ansar al-Islam continued to oppose ISIS and kept functioning independently. Abu Khattab al-Kurdi was among those who left Ansar al-Islam for ISIS, and he later became an ISIS commander. When a previously unknown Kurdish militant group using white flags appeared in Iraq in 2017, Iraqi security and intelligence officials argued that this was splinter group of Ansar al-Islam, which reportedly still had hundreds of fighters operating in the Hamrin Mountains.