“Immediately after 9/11, a group calling itself Jund al-Islam (The Army of Islam) established itself in a mountainous area near the town of Halabja [in Iraqi Kurdistan]. It was clear that the group was linked to al-Qaeda. The group subsequently merged with another extremist Islamist party to form Ansar al-Islam (The Partisans of Islam). In March 2003, as part of the campaign in Iraq, the Coalition bombed the Ansar’s bases in Biyara, killing over 250 of its members. The rest regrouped and formed one of the first insurgent/terrorist groups, attacking a variety of targets in Kurdistan and later in the rest of Iraq.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Ali A. Allawi, The Occupation of Iraq, Page 134