Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad

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Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
(Group of Monotheism and Jihad)
Participant in the Iraq War

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal Jihad members with Jack Hensley and with the group's banner in the background.
Active 2003-2004
Leaders Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Headquarters Fallujah
Area of
operations		 Iraq, limited in Jordan
Originated as Ansar al-Islam
Became al-Qaeda in Iraq
Opponents Multinational force in Iraq,
Iraq (Iraqi Security Forces, Kurdish and Shia militias),
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
United Nations
Battles/wars Iraqi insurgency

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: جماعة التوحيد والجهاد‎, Group of Monotheism and Jihad) was a radical neo-Khawarij takfiri Muslim militant group in the Sunni Iraqi insurgency led by the Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Foreign fighters were widely thought to play a key role in the decentralized network,[1] although some analysts say it may have also had a considerable Iraqi membership.[2] Following Zarqawi's October 17, 2004 pledge of allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, the group gradually became popularly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (official name Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn).[3][4][5][6]

Contents

[edit] Name

This group's name is usually abbreviated as JTJ or most often shortened to Tawhid and Jihad, Tawhid wal-Jihad and sometimes Tawhid al-Jihad (or just Al Tawhid or Tawhid).

[edit] Origins

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad was started by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, other foreigners, and local, mostly Kurdish Islamist sympathizers. Zarqawi was a Jordanian who had traveled to Afghanistan to fight in the Soviet-Afghan War, but had arrived after the departure of the Soviet troops; instead he busied himself with reporting on the fighting of others. After a trip home, he eventually returned to Afghanistan, running an Islamic militant training camp near Herat in Afghanistan. Zarqawi started the network originally with a focus on overthrowing the Jordanian kingdom, which he considered to be un-Islamic in the fundamentalist sense. Eventually, Zarqawi developed a large number of contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the U.S. and Jordan.

Following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, it is believed that Zarqawi moved westward into Iraq, where he may have received medical treatment in Baghdad for an injured leg. It is believed that he developed extensive ties in Iraq with Ansar al-Islam ("Partisans of Islam"), a Kurdish Islamist militant group that was based in the extreme northeast of the country. Ansar had alleged ties to Iraqi Intelligence; Saddam Hussein's motivation would have been to use Ansar as a surrogate force to repress the secular Kurds who wanted a "free Kurdistan".[7] (In January 2003 Ansar's founder, Mullah Krekar, has staunchly denied any such contacts with Saddam's regime.[8]) Zarqawi's operatives have been responsible for the assassination of the U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Jordan in 2002.[9]

Following the 2003 U.S-led invasion of Iraq, JTJ was developed as a militant network composed of foreign fighters and remnants of Ansar al-Islam to resist the coalition occupation forces and their Iraqi allies. In May 2004 JTJ joined forces with another Islamist organisation, the Salafiah al-Mujahidiah.[10] Many of foreign fighters were not the group members, but once in Iraq they became dependent on Zarqawi's local contacts. [11]

[edit] Goals

 This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (October 2007)

The stated goals of JTJ were to force a withdrawal of U.S-led forces from Iraq, topple the Iraqi interim government and assassinate collaborators with the "occupation," marginalize the Shiite Muslim population and defeat its militias, and to subsequently establish a pure Islamic state. Presumably, if and when those goals are achieved, the global Jihad would continue to establish a pan-Islamic state and remove Western influence from the Muslim world.

[edit] Tactics

JTJ differed from other Iraqi insurgent groups considerably in its tactics. Rather than just using conventional weapons and guerrilla tactics, it has relied heavily on suicide bombings, mostly with vehicles, targeting a wide variety of groups but most especially Iraqi Security Forces and those facilitating the occupation. U.S and coalition forces, the United Nations (UN), foreign civilians, humanitarian organizations, Iraqi Shia and Kurdish political and religious figures, Iraqi police and security forces, and Iraqi interim officials have also been targeted. The group have assassinated several leading Iraqi politicians of the early post-Saddam era.[11]

Zarqawi's militants have been known to use a wide variety of other tactics, however, including targeted assassinations and kidnappings, the planting of improvised explosive devices, mortar attacks, and beginning in a late June 2004 offensive urban guerilla-style attacks using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. TWJ was also known for committing war crimes such as the brutal beheadings of foreign and Iraqi civilian hostages, which were then distributed on the Internet in video footage attributed to the group.[2]

JTJ cites various texts from the Qur'an and the Sunnah (traditions) of Muhammad that they perceive to support their tactics. They refer to the tradition of the prophet Muhammad where he said to the people of Mecca when conquering them, "By the one in whose hand the soul of Muhammad is in, I came to you with slaughter" narrated in the books of Hadith (traditions). They also quote Muhammad saying, "Whoever slaughters a non-Muslim (at war with Islam, i.e. those perceived to be 'enemy occupiers') sincerely for the sake of Allah, Allah will make hellfire prohibited upon him." as well as many verses of the Qur'an calling Muslims to fight invading non-Muslims and even behead them, such where Allah says in the Qur'an, "when you meet the non-Muslim (enemies in battle) strike their necks." The group's spiritual advisor was Abu Anas al-Shami.

[edit] Activities

[edit] Attacks

Canal Hotel after TWJ attack.
Canal Hotel after TWJ attack.

TWJ took responsibility or was blamed for some of the biggest early insurgent attacks, including:

TWJ claimed credit for a number of attacks targeting Coalition and Iraqi forces, including the October 2004 massacre of 49 unarmed Iraqi National Guard recruits, and humanitarian aid agency targets such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.[18] The group conducted numerous attacks against U.S. military personnel and Iraqi infrastructure throughout 2004, including suicide attacks inside the Green Zone perimeter in Baghdad.[19]

[edit] Foreign hostages

[edit] Legacy

Since October 2004 JTJ became known as al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The group may also been linked with the little-known group called "Tawhid and Jihad in Syria", and may have influenced the extremist Palestinian group called "Tawhid and Jihad Brigades" (better known as Army of Islam) in Gaza.[21][22]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Peter Grier, Faye Bowers. "Iraq's bin Laden? Zarqawi's rise", Christian Science Monitor, May 14, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Guide: Armed groups in Iraq", BBC, Tuesday, August 15, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  3. ^ "Zarqawi pledges allegiance to Osama", Dawn, Tuesday, October 18, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  4. ^ "Al-Zarqawi group vows allegiance to bin Laden", MSNBC, Tuesday, October 18, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  5. ^ Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, translated by Jeffrey Pool (Tuesday, October 18, 2004). Zarqawi's pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda. Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  6. ^ Gordon Corera (December 16, 2004). Unraveling Zarqawi's al-Qaeda connection. Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  7. ^ The Enemy of My Enemy: The odd link between Ansar al-Islam, Iraq and Iran. The Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  8. ^ Pam O'Toole. "Mullah denies Iraq al-Qaeda link", BBC, Friday, January 31, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  9. ^ Richard Boucher (October 15, 2004). Foreign Terrorist Organization: Designation of Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad and Aliases. United States Department of State. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  10. ^ "Profile: Tawhid and Jihad group", BBC, Friday, October 8, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  11. ^ a b c d e Gary Gambill (December 16, 2004). Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi: A biographical sketch. Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  12. ^ Mohamad Bazzi. "Zarqawi kin reportedly bombed shrine in Iraq", Newsday, February 7, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  13. ^ Emily Hunt (November 15, 2005). Zarqawi's 'Total War' on Iraqi Shiites Exposes a Divide among Sunni Jihadists. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  14. ^ "Who Is Abu Zarqawi?", CBS News, May 18, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  15. ^ a b c d "Fast facts about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi", Fox News, Thursday, June 8, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  16. ^ "Car bomb kills 35 in Baghdad", CNN, June 17, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  17. ^ Peter Cave. "[1] Car bomb kills dozens in Baghdad]", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 14, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  18. ^ Iraq: 2004 overview. The Knowledge Base. Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  19. ^ Country Reports on Terrorism. United States Department of State (April 28, 2006). Retrieved on July 13, 2007.
  20. ^ "Turkish hostage shot to death in Iraq", China Daily, August 3, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  21. ^ "Al-Qaida inspired militant group calls on Syrians to kill country's president", Inteernational Herald Tribune, May 28, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 
  22. ^ "PALESTINE: Reporter is dead, claims terror group", Asia Media, Tuesday, April 17, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. 

[edit] External links

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