Replies

Jaish Ansar al-Sunna

Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna or Group of the Protectors of the Sunna, (formerly Jaish Ansar al-Sunna) is an Islamist militant group in Iraq that fought the US-led occupation and US-backed interim government of Iyad Allawi, and continues to fight the new ruling government of Nouri al-Maliki. The group is based in northern and central Iraq, and includes Kurdish (Kurds) groups and Sunni Arab religious radicals as well as some foreign fighters. The group maintains close ties with the remnants of Ansar al-Islam, a Kurdish Islamist organization formerly based in the mountains near Halabja in northeastern Iraq before the U.S-led invasion. U.S. officials believe that the group was founded in September of 2003 as an umbrella organization for Islamist guerrillas, with former members of Ansar al-Islam at its core. This date coincides with the first released message from the group stating their existence, on September 20. They claim to seek to expel U.S.-led occupation forces from Iraq and to subsequently establish an Islamic state. The group's leader has been identified Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud, who is believed to be the brother of a major Ansar al-Islam fighter, although his background is unclear.

Ansar al-Sunna is thought to have links with other Islamist organizations operating in Iraq including, the formerly Abu Musab al-Zarqawi backed, Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (al-Qaeda in Iraq). In October 2004 Ansar al-Sunna released a video beheading of a Turkish truck driver on its website. The kidnappers on the video identified themselves as members of al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Source: MERIA). The United States and Iraqi Interim governments have reportedly linked Ansar al-Sunna to al-Qaeda.

Following the twin Sunni and Shiite uprisings of the spring and summer of 2004, and the subsequent decrease in U.S patrols and the creation of "no-go" areas in the Sunni Triangle, Ansar al-Sunna was believed to be part of a loose coalition of insurgent groups (also including guerrillas from Mohammad's Army and al-Tawhid wal-Jihad) controlling the Sunni cities of Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, and Baquba (U.S. offensives later largely wrested control from Baquba, Fallujah, and Samarra, although underground guerrilla forces still have a strong presence in those cities).

On October 10, 2005, Britain's Home Office banned Ansar al-Sunna and fourteen other militant groups from operating in the United Kingdom. Under Britain's Terrorism Act 2000, being a member of a Ansar al-Sunna is punished by a 10-year prison term. On 23 August 2006 its leader was captured.

more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansar_al-Sunna