Jamaat Ansar Al-Sunna

Jamaat Ansar Al-Sunna

Ansar al-Sunnah or Jamaat Ansar al-Sunnah or Group of the Followers of Sunnah (Arabic: جماعة أنصار السنه‎), (formerly Jaish Ansar al-Sunna) is one of the many groups that is battling the forces of the Shia led Nouri Maliki government. The group adheres to mainstream Wahabbism. The group is based in northern and central Iraq, and includes mostly Iraqi (Both Sunni Arab and Sunni Kurdish) fighters. The group was founded in September 2003 as an umbrella organization for guerrillas, with former members of Ansar al-Islam, with members currently residing in Iran after a 2003 joint operation by Iraqi and US forces forced them to flee Iraq. This date coincides with the first released message from the group stating their existence, on September 20. Their goal is to expel U.S. occupation forces from Iraq.

Ansar al-Sunna is thought to have links with 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 (Source: MERIA). Initially the United States and Iraqi Interim governments reportedly linked Ansar al-Sunna to al-Qaeda. However a letter intercepted by the American military in January 2007 exposes violent conflict between the two groups.

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 al-Tawhid wal) 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 resistance forces still have a strong presence in those cities).

In July 2007 representatives of the Jaish Ansar al-Sunna were instrumental in forming an alliance of Sunni militant groups to prepare for the withdrawal of American and allied forces. The new alliance is composed of seven groupings explicitly excluding al-Qaeda and the Baath-party. This delimitation reveals a growing split between al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunna over tactics, alleged attacks on Iraqi Shia civilians being a main point of difference.

The same year Ansar al-Sunnah formally acknowledged the organizations origins, and changed their name to this.