Three Generations of Jihadism in Iraqi Kurdistan
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SALAFI- JIHADISM in AFRICA BRIEF / 12 June 2021
SALAFI- JIHADISM IN AFRICA BRIEF / 12 June 2021 A winning strategy by SERIES Giovanni Faleg* Senior Analyst, EUISS Katariina Mustasilta Postdoctoral Fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs Summary › Violent extremism has become a grow- ing threat throughout the African conti- INTRODUCTION nent: all sub-regions have experienced the emergence of groups active across state Violent extremism keeps spreading in Africa, showing boundaries. notable resilience despite years of counter-extremism › Today, armed actors engaging in violent and prevention efforts by governments and interna- extremism in the continent are mainly af- tional actors (1)*. In addition to killing thousands, it filiated with Islamist militant groups and costs the affected regions an estimated $97 billion in particularly Salafi-jihadist ideology. lost informal economic activity each year (2). › The spread of Salafi-jihadism in Africa is Today, armed actors engaging in violent extremism fuelled by a combination of localised griev- in the continent are mainly affiliated with Islamist ances and transnational ambitions, while militant groups and organisations and particularly tactical and strategic flexibility has in- Salafi-jihadist ideology (3). Recent data indicates a creased the resilience of insurgent groups. dangerous expansion of Salafi-jihadist armed groups › Once it has emerged as a potent force, de- — often simply labelled as violent extremist or ter- feating Salafi-jihadism on the battlefield rorist organisations (4) — beyond the traditional hot- proves very difficult as groups show enor- spots in the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of mous resilience, even when facing tacti- Africa to West Africa’s coastal states and Central and cal defeats. Southern Africa. -
Abu Mus`Ab Al-Suri's Critique of Hard Line Salafists in the Jihadist Current
DECEMBER 2007 . VOL 1 . ISSUE 1 Abu Mus`ab al-Suri’s Salafism identify contemporary jihadists as While the term Salafism is historically simply radicalized elements within, or Critique of Hard Line associated with a late 19th and early as by-products of, a broader Salafist Salafists in the Jihadist 20th century Islamic reformist phenomenon. Instead, it may be more Current movement, today’s Salafists are very fruitful to speak of Salafism as one of different. Their main characteristic is several competing ideological strands By Brynjar Lia their strict emulation of the practices within the jihadist current. Furthermore, of the Prophet Muhammad and his one may identify a spectrum, or a the recent scholarly literature companions at the pristine Islamic continuum, of positions within the on al-Qa`ida has focused on studying age, and hence an abhorrence of any contemporary Salafi-jihadism, defined internal divisions and ideological later “innovation” (bid`a) in belief and by two extreme positions. schisms in the global jihadist current.1 religious practice, an obsession with This literature has uncovered important God’s oneness (tawhid), a rejection On the one extreme are hard line Salafist fault lines with regard to al-Qa`ida’s of human rationality and an extreme purists for whom doctrinal purity is of priorities on issues such as media and exclusiveness, even hatred, toward quintessential importance, even if it 3 propaganda efforts versus military other Islamic schools and tendencies. means fighting side battles, alienating organization. Differences over the Even if only a small segment of today’s allies and shattering any semblance of primacy of religious-theological purity Salafists support al-Qa`ida, the term a common front against the “Zionist- versus military-strategic effectiveness “Salafi-jihadism” has nevertheless been Crusader” enemy. -
Country of Origin Information Iraq
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION IRAQ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) October 2005 This report has been produced by UNHCR on the basis of information obtained from a variety of publicly available sources, analyses and comments. The purpose of the report is to serve as a reference for a breadth of country of origin information and thereby assists, inter alia, in the asylum determination process and when assessing the feasibility of returns to Iraq in safety and dignity. The information contained does not purport to be exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country surveyed, and incomplete, inaccurate or incorrect information cannot be ruled out. The inclusion of information in this report does not constitute an endorsement of the information or views of third parties. Neither does such information necessarily represent statements of policy or views of UNHCR or the United Nations. In particular the use of ethnic-sectarian terms such as ‘Shiite’, ‘Sunni’ or ‘Kurd’ does not constitute an endorsement of sectarianism but merely reflects the current realities on the ground (i.e. these groups should not be considered homogenous entities). ii Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ III LIST OF ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................VII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 1 A. INTRODUCTION -
Iraqi Kurdistan News in Brief Political Yazidi
Iraqi Kurdistan News in brief Political Yazidi Kurds’ mass grave found in western Mosul Source: NRT TV 1st of Jun 2015 Nineveh – Erbil: Bodies of 80 Yazidi Kurds was found in mass grave in western part of the Iraqi northern city of Mosul, official said. The official to follow Yazidi affairs in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Hadi Dobani, told NRT that 80 Yazidi bodies, including 33 children and 20 women, were found in Badosh, western Mosul. He told NRT that the bodies might have been buried by the militants of the Islamic State (IS) during its attack onto the region in August 2014. Dobani said findings showed torture on parts of the body and gun shots in the heads of the victims. It is further to mention that more than 11 mass graves have been found in the region after retaking there from the control of IS. Kurdistan receives Iraq’s Anbar refugees through air and land Source: Hawler newspaper 1st of Jun 2015 Erbil: Baghdad Airport released a statement reading that Iraqi airways transported displaced Anbar people to Kurdistan region airports free of charge. Meanwhile, the regional Office of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration announced on Sunday that the Kurdistan capital city of Erbil receives daily about 500 displaced families coming from Baghdad by air. This figure was announced by Aliah Bazzaz, Director of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Displacement and Migration in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and gave this statement to Hawler newspaper. Braham Salih: “Motto would not realize Kurdish independence” Source: PUKMEDIA 2nd of June, 2015 Slemani: The deputy leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), former Kurdistan PM, Braham Salih, asked for close ties between parties in Kurdistan Region and solving intra-PUK tensions and stressed the Kurdish region’s independence is impossible with motto. -
Kurdish Islamists in Iraq 5
5 Kurdish Islamists in Iraq from the MuslimBrotherhood to the So-Called Islamic State: Shaban 1436 June 2015 Continuity or Departure? Mohammed Shareef Visiting Lecturer, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter Kurdish Islamists in Iraq from the Muslim Brotherhood to the So-Called Islamic State: Continuity or Departure? Mohammed Shareef Visiting Lecturer, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter العدد - )اﻷول( 4 No. 5 June 2015 © King Faisal Center for research and Islamic Studies, 2015 King Fahd National Library Catalging-In-Publication Data King Faisal Center for research and Islamic Studies Dirasat: Kurdish Islamists in Iraq from the Muslim Brotherhood to the So-Called Islamic State: Continuity or Departure? / King Faisal Center for research and Islamic Studies - Riyadh, 2015 p 44; 16.5x23cm (Dirasat; 5) ISBN: 978-603-8032-65-7 1- Kurds - Iraq - Politics and government - History I- Title 956 dc 1436/6051 L.D. no. 1436/7051 ISBN: 978-603-8032-65-7 Designer: Azhari Elneiri Disclaimer: This paper and its contents reflect the author’s analyses and opinions. Views and opinions contained herein are the author’s and should not be attributed to any officials affiliated with the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies or any Saudi Arabian national. The author is solely responsible for any errors that remain in the document. Table of Contents Abstract 5 Introduction 7 Kurdish Islamist Parties and the So-Called Islamic State 10 The Muslim Brotherhood and the Beginnings of Islamism in Kurdistan 13 The Emergence of Indigenous Kurdish Islamist Groups 19 The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan and Ansar al-Islam after 1991 27 Kurds in the So-Called Islamic State 35 Bibliography 39 Author Biography 40 3 4 No. -
Al-Qaeda's Strategic, Ideological and Structural Adaptations Since 9/11 by Bill Braniff and Assaf Moghadam
PERSPECTIVES ON TERRORISM Volume 5, Issue 2 Towards Global Jihadism: Al-Qaeda's Strategic, Ideological and Structural Adaptations since 9/11 by Bill Braniff and Assaf Moghadam Abstract In recent years, Al-Qaeda has suffered a number of setbacks, but has also successfully spawned an expansionist global jihadist movement that will survive the death of Osama bin Laden. This article describes how the multifaceted threat posed by global jihadism has evolved over the last decade. It first recounts some of the more salient examples of Al-Qaeda’s post-9/11 strategic, ideological, and structural adaptations, and then offers a balance sheet of Al-Qaeda’s contemporary strengths and weaknesses. Al-Qaeda continues to enable the violence of others, orient that violence towards the United States and its allies in a distributed game of attrition warfare, and foster a dichotomous “us versus them” narrative between the Muslim world and the rest of the international community. Despite this overarching consistency, Al-Qaeda shepherds a different phenomenon than it did ten years ago. The aggregation of the movement’s strategic, ideological, and structural adaptations has fundamentally changed the nature of the jihadist threat to the West. This evolved threat is not inherently more dangerous, as counterterrorism efforts today focus on and disrupt capability earlier and more consistently than prior to September 2001. This multifaceted global jihad will, however, continue to produce greater numbers of attacks in more locations, from a more diverse cadre of individuals -
Inside the Jihadi Mind Understanding Ideology and Propaganda
Inside the Jihadi Mind Understanding Ideology and Propaganda EMMA EL-BADAWY MILO COMERFORD PETER WELBY 1 2 Contents Executive Summary 5 Policy Recommendations 9 Introduction 13 Framework for Analysis Values 23 Objectives 35 Conduct 45 Group Identity 53 Scripture and Scholarship How Jihadi Groups Use the Quran and Hadith 63 How Jihadi Groups Make Use of / Reject Scholarship 67 Appendices Methodology 70 Glossary 74 Acknowledgements 76 Note This report was first published in October 2015. The research was carried by the Centre on Religion & Geopolitics. The work of the Centre on Religion & Geopolitics is now carried out by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. 3 4 1.0 Executive Summary This report identifies what ideology is shared by ISIS, Jabhat al- Nusra, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninusla, as revealed in their propaganda, in order to inform effective counter-narratives. The ideology of global extremism can only be countered if it is first understood. This combination of theology and political objectives needs to be uprooted through rigorous scrutiny, and sustained intellectual confrontation. After the 9/11 attacks, Osama Bin Laden’s al- Qaeda had approximately 300 militants. ISIS alone has, at a low estimate, 31,000 fighters across Syria 55 and Iraq. Understanding how ideology has driven this Salafi-jihadism is a vital motivating force for extremist phenomenon is essential to containing and defeating violence, and therefore must be countered in order to violent extremism. curb the threat. But violent ideologies do not operate in a vacuum. AIM OF THE REPORT SUMMARY EXECUTIVE A fire requires oxygen to grow. -