Al-Qaeda in Iraq

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

al-Qaeda in Iraq or Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Arabic: تَنْظِيمُ قَاعِدَةِ الْجِهَادِ فِي بِلَادِ الرَّافِدِينَ, 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 17 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 15 October 2006.

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.