The following is a review of the resistance and armed groups in Iraq: First, the main Sunni resistance groups that primarily target the US occupation: 1. The Iraqi National Islamic Resistance (the 1920 Revolution Brigades) : It emerged for the first time on 16 July 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 US forces. The attacks primarily are concentrated in the area west of Baghdad, in the regions of Abu Ghraib, Khan Dari and Falluja. It has other activities in the governorates of Ninwi, Diyali, and Al-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 US occupation, are usually distributed at the gates of the mosques after the Friday prayers. The most prominent operations of the group during that period were the shooting down of a helicopter in the Abu Ghraib region by the Al-Zubayr Bin Al-Awwam Brigade on 1 August 2004, and the shooting down of a Chinook helicopter in the Al-Nuaymiyah region, near Falluja, by the Martyr Nur Al-Din Brigade on 9 August 2004. Hamas Iraq is a Sunni militia group which broke off from the 1920 Revolution Brigade in March 2007. The group has claimed to have released videos of its attack on US troops. 2. 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 Falluja, Samaraa, and Tikrit in central Iraq, and in Basra and Babil governorates in the south, in addition to Diyali governorate in the east and is much weaker than the 1920 Revolution Brigades. 3. The Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front (JAMI) : The front is the newest Sunni resistance group to fight the US occupation. It includes a number of small resistance factions that formed a coalition. Its political and jihad programme is based on the illegality of the occupation. 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 30 May 2004. In its statements, JAMI warns against Jewish-Zionist 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 US 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. Furthermore, JAMI targets the members of US intelligence and kills them in the Al-Faysaliyah area in Mosul and also in the Governorate of Diyali. 4. Other factions : There are other factions that claim responsibility for limited military operations against the US 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 10 October 2003 in Falluja and called for the release of a local sheikh known as Sheikh Jamal Nidal, who was arrested by the US forces. Iraqi Liberation Army : The first appearance of this group was on 15 July 2003. It warned 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 mujahideen active in Falluja. It filmed an operation on videotape and sent the tape to Iranian television on 7 July 2003. On the tape the group said that Saddam Hussein and the United States were two sides of the same coin. The group said that it carried out operations against the US occupation in Falluja and other cities. The White Banners : A group of local Arab Sunni mujahideen 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 Mohamed's Army. The group criticised the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. So far, there is no information about their operations. Al-Haqq Army : There is not much information about this group, which consists of Arab Sunni Muslims, it has some nationalistic tendencies, and it is not loyal to Saddam Hussein. 5. Baathist factions : These factions are loyal to the Baath Party and the previous regime. They do not constitute a significant proportion of the actual resistance in Iraq. Their activities are more or less restricted to financing resistance operations. The factions that still exist secretly in the Iraqi arena include: Al-Awdah (The Return) : This faction is concentrated in northern Iraq -- Samaraa, Tikrit, Al-Dur, and Mosul. It consists of members of the former intelligence apparatus. Saddam's Fedayeen : The faction was formed by the Saddam Hussein regime before the US invasion. Now, it is rumoured 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. Second, Shia resistance against the occupation: Al-Sadr group : The Mahdi Army is considered the only militia experiment to emerge after the occupation. In July 2003, Shia leader Muqtada Al-Sadr announced the formation of the Mahdi Army, but not as a force directed against the occupation. Within a short period, Al-Sadr gathered between 10,000 and 15,000 well-trained youths, the majority of whom were from the poor of the Al-Sadr City, Al-Shulah and the southern cities. Recent events include the closure of Al-Sadr's Al-Hawzah newspaper in March 2004; the arrest of Al-Sadr assistant Mustafa Al-Yaqubi against a background of suspicions about his involvement in the killing of Imam Abdul-Majid Al-Khui, and finally the writ to arrest Muqtada Al-Sadr in April on charges of assassinating Al-Khui inside the Al-Haydari Mosque in Najaf on 10 April 2003. They put the Mahdi Army in confrontation with the occupation forces in Baghdad and the southern governorates. The greatest confrontation between this militia and the occupation forces erupted in Najaf in August 2004. The confrontation continued for nearly three weeks, and it ended with the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the two sides. Observers believe these confrontations bestowed upon the Al-Sadr tendency the mark of an armed resistance to the occupation. Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib Jihadi Brigades : This Shia group appeared for the first time on 12 October 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 members of the Interim Governing Council and any Iraqi cooperating with the coalition forces. The group also announced that Najaf and Karbala were the battlegrounds in which it would target the US forces. Third: Factions that adopt abductions and killing: In addition to the groups resisting occupation, other armed groups have emerged and resorted to operations of abducting and killing foreigners both to terrorise the enemy and as a political pressure card to achieve their specific demands. This was what happened when Philippine President Gloria Macapagol Arroyo decided to withdraw the Philippine forces acting under US command in Iraq after the abduction of her compatriot Angelo del Cruz on 7 July 2004 and his release at a later time. The most prominent of these groups are: Assadullah Brigades : The group said in a statement, number 50, "the mujahid is entitled to capture any infidel that enters Iraq, whether he works for a construction company or in any other job, because he could be a warrior, and the mujahid 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, Mohamed Mamdouh Hilmi Qotb, in July 2004 in response to statements by Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who announced 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 : It abducted the US Marine of Lebanese origin, Wasif Ali Hassun, on 19 July 2004, and then released him. Islamic Anger Brigades : This group abducted 15 Lebanese in June 2004 and then released them, with the exception of Hussein Ulayan, an employee of a communications company, whom it killed. Khaled Ibn Al-Walid Brigades and Iraq's Martyrs Brigades : They are believed to be the ones who 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 and The Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad Group are both headed by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. The Islamic Army in Iraq : A secret organisation that adopts the ideology of Al-Qaeda. The organisation abducted Iranian Consul Feredion Jahani and two French journalists, Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot. Ansar Al-Sunna Movement : The movement abducted 12 Nepalese on 23 August 2004 and killed them. The last four groups are clearly intellectually close to the beliefs and thinking of Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. The first case of videotaped beheading was that of US national Nicholas Berg in May 2004. The Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi group claimed responsibility. After that, the Al-Tawhid wa Al-Jihad Group killed South Korean Kim Il, who was working for a Korean company providing the US Army with military installations. Following that, the abducting of hostages escalated in Iraq. Some of the hostages were killed, and others were released. The total number of hostages killed so far is: two Italians, two US nationals, two Pakistanis, one Egyptian, one Turk, one Lebanese, one Bulgarian, one South Korean and 12 Nepalese. This is not the final word on the resistance, which keeps changing every day, with new groups forming, others lapsing and dividing into smaller groups. Based on a report by Global Policy Forum
