Al-Qaeda in Iraq

al-Qaeda in Iraq or Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Arabic: تنظيم قاعدة الجهاد في بلاد الرافدين, romanized: tanẓīm qā‘idat al-jihād fī bilād ar-rāfidayn, lit. 'Organization of Jihad's Base in the land of two rivers') was a Salafi jihadist militant group affiliated with al-Qaeda.^{[9][10][11][12][13]} It was created on the 17th of October 2004 and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri until it became the Islamic State of Iraq on the 15th of October 2006.

al-Qaeda in Iraq (Organization of Jihad's Base in Mesopotamia)
الْقَاعِدَةُ فِي الْعِرَاقِ
One of several flags used by AQI in their video releases; others used white text for the circle and the shahada.
Leaders	Abu Musab al-Zarqawi † (17 October 2004 – 7 June 2006) Abu Ayyub al-Masri (7 June 2006 – 15 October 2006)
Dates of operation	17 October 2004[1] – 15 October 2006
Active regions	Iraq
Ideology	Salafi Jihadism[2] Anti-Shi'ism[3] Qutbism
Part of	al-Qaeda Mujahideen Shura Council (from January 2006)
Opponents	Coalition forces Republic of Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority Islamic Army in Iraq Ansar al-Sunna Hamas of Iraq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq[4] Mahdi Army[5]  Jordan  Israel  United Nations
Battles and wars	Iraq War Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Iraqi insurgency (2003–06) Iraqi civil war (2006–2008)
Designated as a terrorist group by	Iraq[6]  Malaysia[7]  Saudi Arabia[8]
Preceded by Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Ansar al-Islam (associate) Succeeded by Mujahideen Shura Council Islamic State of Iraq

References

1. "Zarqari's Pledge of Allegiance". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
2. "War between ISIS and Al-Qaeda" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2015.
3. "Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia". Al Jazeera. 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
4. "موقع المقاومة الإسلامية عصائب أهل الحق - الشهيد السعيد لـيث صـــاحب كـــــان مــــــؤمناً أن طريـــــق أهـــل الحـــق هــــــــو طريـــــــــــق الخـــــــــــــــــــــــلاص والتحــــــــــرُّر". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
5. "Mahdi Army | Mapping Militant Organizations". Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
6. "Iraq issues 'most wanted' terror list". 4 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
7. Archived copy Archived 9 October 2022 at ghostarchive.org [Error: unknown archive URL]
8. "سياسي / وزارة الداخلية: بيان بالمحظورات الأمنية والفكرية على المواطن والمقيم ، وإمهال المشاركين بالقتال خارج المملكة 15 يوما إضافية لمراجعة النفس والعودة إلى وطنهم / إضافة أولى وكالة الأنباء السعودية". Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
9. "Govt bans al-Zarqawi terror group". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 February 2005. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
10. Pool, Jeffrey (16 December 2004). "Zarqawi's Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu'Asker Al-Battar, Issue 21". Terrorism Monitor. 2 (24): The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
11. Pool, Jeffrey (16 December 2004). "Zarqawi's Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu'Asker Al-Battar, Issue 21". Terrorism Monitor. 2 (24): The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
12. Pool, Jeffrey (16 December 2004). "Zarqawi's Pledge of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu'Asker Al-Battar, Issue 21". Terrorism Monitor. 2 (24): The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
13. "The War between ISIS and al-Qaeda for Supremacy of the Global Jihadist Movement" (PDF). Washington Institute for Near East Policy. June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2015.