Aden Abyan Islamic Army (AAIA)

Other names:

Founder: Usam al-Masri, a/k/a: Abu Bassam, Usama al-Masri

Group Description: Organization emerged publicly in mid-1998 when the group openly supported Osama bin Laden, called for the overthrow of the Yemeni government, and attacks against the US and other western interests in Yemen. Members are of the Salafi religious faction (a small Sunni Muslim sect closely related to the Wahhabism theology). The group is an offshoot of the Yemeni Islamic Jihad that is reportedly funded by Osama bin Laden. Members are experienced Mujihadeen who have fought in Afghanistan.

it should be noted that this group praised the attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in August 1998, calling them as a "heroic operation carried out by heroes of the jihad." The group also called on the Yemeni people to kill Americans and restore Sharia law in Yemen.

Al Qanoon

Other names:

Founder: Abdullah AZAM

Group Description: Founded in Pakistan, the group claimed responsibility in June, 2002 for a homicide truck bombing at the US Consulate in Karachi, killing 10 and injuring at least 50 others, including a US Marine guard. This is an umbrella group consisting of members of Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Jaish-i-Mohammad, and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, as well as individuals from other terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda terrorists. In addition to claiming responsibility for the June attack on the US Consulate, Al Qanoon warned, that "America, its allies and its slave Pakistani rulers should be prepared for more attacks," and called on President Pervez Musharraf to resign.

AL BADR

Other names:

Founder: Ahsan DAR

Group Description: Al Badr was founded by Pakistan's Intelligence Service in 1971 and was reportedly involved in participating in the massacre of 10,000 Bengali intellectuals during the Pakistani Civil War. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the ISI helped Al Badr to become a new organization in 1989 under the leadership of Ahsan Dar to establish a pro-Pakistani faction in Kashmir. Since approximately 2000, the group has claimed responsibility for various terrorist attacks in Kashmir. Although Al Badr denies any affiliation with al Qaeda, they remain critical of President Musharraf's restrictions on terrorist groups and his support for the US War on Terrorism.

AL FATAH

Other names:

Founder(s): ABBAS, Mahmoud (a.k.a. Abu Mazen ), Yasser Arafat, Khalil El-Wazir, Salah Khalaf, Khalid al-Hasan, and Faruk Qaddumi.

Group Description: Fatah is a secular Palestinian nationalist organization involved in Palestinian politics. The group was founded in the late 1950s fighting against the legitimacy of Israel and promoting violence to drive Israel out of greater Palestine. Stressing Palestinian self-sufficiency as the key to defeating Israel and creating an independent Palestinian state, Fatah emerged from the underground in the mid-1960s in the power vacuum that followed the Arab defeat in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Al Fatah aligned itself with the PLO and ultimately established itself as the dominant faction within that organization. In1969, Yasser Arafat was serving as the chairman of the PLO, at that time operating out of Jordan. The PLO was violently expelled beginning in September 1970 (resulting in the name Black September). Subsequent to that expulsion, Fatah and the PLO operated out of Lebanon until they were forced to disperse throughout the Middle East and North Africa after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. The group consistently carried out attacks against Israeli targets in the Middle East and Western Europe, and played a major role in prompting the first Palestinian Intifada in 1987. While some al Fatah members are actively engaged in Palestinian Authority governmental activities, many more are active terrorists. Factions of al Fatah include the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and the Fatah-Tanzim.

Activities: ANO has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in at least 20 countries resulting in the death or injury of about 1000. Targets include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, moderate Palestinians, the PLO, and various Arab countries.

Notable attacks:

al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (GAI)

Other names:

Founder: Abdel Rahman, Hamdi (imprisoned 1 January 2004 in Egypt)

Date formed: 1977

Group Description: Egypt's largest militant group, the GAI began as an alliance of loosely organized cells that developed after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat released many members of the Muslim Brotherhood who had been imprisoned during Nasser's reign. The group’s spiritual leader is Shaykh Umar Abd al-Rahman, who is imprisoned in the US in January 1996 for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The Group claimed responsibility for the June 1995 attempted assassination of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. Group member Rifa'i Ahmad is believed to be responsible for ordering the massacre of a group of tourists at Luxor in 1997. Ahmad's faction was based in Afghanistan and has been identified as having close links with Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ). He also published a 2001 book in which he justifies mass casualty terrorist attacks against non-Muslims. Senior members signed Osama bin Laden’s fatwa in February 1998 calling for attacks against the United States. Since 2000, GAI cells have targeted Christians in Egypt.. The group was targeted by US-led attacks on Afghanistan after 9/11; members of the group have dispersed into Pakistan and various outlying regions, although are regrouping. The primary goal is the overthrow of the regime of President Hosni Mubarak and the establishment of an Islamist state and Sharia law in Egypt. As they have allied themselves with Al-Qaeda, the GAI has broadened their objectives, including attacks on the US.

al Qaeda

Harakat al-Muqawamat al-Islamiyya (Islamic Resistance Movement)

General information: Hamas (a nickname which in Arabic means "zeal") is a militant Palestinian Islamic movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip dedicated to the creation of an Islamic state in Palestine. Founded in late 1987, Hamas grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood, with which it still has strong ties.

Ideology: Maintains that Palestine is an Islamic homeland that can never be surrendered to non-Muslims and that waging jihad (Holy War) to liberate Palestine from what it calls the "Zionist Entity" is the duty of all Palestinians. This ideology is traditionally disseminated through inflammatory sermons in mosques, and the distribution of religious and political leaflets.

Activities/Other: Hamas's military wing, the 'Izz al-Din al-Qassam' (Allotment of the Power of Religion), has been involved in a campaign of terrorism against Israel since 1987. The group has become known for its homicide bombers. Members of this brigade believe that martyrdom in the name of God is the highest form of self-sacrifice. In the 1990’s, they also targeted suspected Palestinian collaborators and Fatah rivals. Hamas is both a social and a militant group, involved in welfare schemes and education of Palestinians, in vocational training, health care and also with providing jobs to unemployed. The military wing of the Hamas is one of the most active organizations in the territories, due to its ongoing battle with the Israeli occupation.

In April 1994, Hamas issued its long-term goals outlining a pragmatic policy position by declaring its willingness to cease military operation in the West Bank and Gaza, as long as the following conditions are met:

Leader/Founder: Abu Abdullah al-Hassan Ibn Mahmoud

Organized: April 2003 [Separated from Ansar al Islam]

Primary Goals: According to an Internet website, the stated objectives of Ansar al Sunnah are to rid Iraq of all US and coalition forces and to establish an Islamic Theocracy under Sharia law. The group is targeting US and coalition forces and anyone who is believed to be working in cooperation with the west, including the citizens of Iraq.

Attack Activities: Ansar al Sunnah claimed responsibility for the homicide bombings on 1 February 2004 against two Kurdish political party offices in Irbil that killed 109 people.The homicide bombers infiltrated Kurdish party offices and set off their explosives. On 31 August 2004, the terrorist group posted a video on their website that illustrated the gruesome killing of 12 kidnapped Nepalese construction workers. One hostage was savagely beheaded while the 11 others were shot one-by-one, execution style, while they were forced to lay down. It is important to note that Nepal is not a member of the coalition in Iraq, and that the construction workers were there simply to assist in rebuilding Iraq. The group issued a statement with the release of the executions that read, in part:

We have carried out the sentence of God against 12 Nepalis who came from their country to fight the Muslims and to serve the Jews and the Christians...believing in Buddha as their God," said the statement by the military committee of the Army of Ansar al-Sunna.

Notations: Ansar al Sunnah appears to be evolving into more of a paramilitary force, employing increasingly sophisticated operational tactics and weapon preparation as illustrated in the attack at Camp Marez on Tuesday, 21 December 2004.

Advisory: Attacks to thwart the upcoming elections in Iraq scheduled for 30 January 2005 have been promised. The group has threatened to carry out attacks against voting stations and anyone who is assisting in the electoral process. The group issued a statement regarding the elections, calling on Muslims to avoid voting stations as they are "the centers of atheism." "We warn everyone that the Mujahedeen will be attacking polling stations."

Ansar al-Islam

Founder: Mullah Krekar (2004-Pictured at left -currently in hiding in Norway)

Organized: August 2001 [Separated from al Qaeda]

Primary Goals: The stated goal of Ansar al Islam is the establishment of a separate Islamic state (Islamic Theocracy) in northern Iraq, although is expanding their goals to strike in all of the Middle East and Europe. Many of the terrorists in this group have had training in Afghanistan, some older members having fought against the Soviet occupation. Recently, Ansar al islam has aligned themselves with Jordanian national and al Qaeda terrorist Musab al-Zarqawi, who is the leader of Tawhid and Jihad [Taweed wa Jihad].

Name Meaning: Monotheism & Holy Struggle; Alternate: Unity & Holy War

Organization Leader/Founder: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; a/k/a Ahmad Fadeel Nazal Al-Khalayleh. (Also associated with Ansar al-Islam)

Doctrine: A fundamentalist Sunni Islamic group, it’s ideology consists of waging war against American "crusaders", contrasting the strict “monotheism of Islam” to the "polytheism of the Christian Trinity.” The group believes that the invasion of Iraq is a step to the creation of a “Greater Israel,” and reject Shia Muslims as "al-Rafidah" or “rejectionists.” They also view the Kurds as enemies due to their alleged links with Jewish interests. The terrorist group is committed to waging a campaign against the Jordanian monarchy, which it rejects as "un-Islamic." Based on a militant interpretation of Islam, the Al Tawhid movement promotes and supports the "jihad" of all fellow-believers worldwide; in particular, the "fight against non-believers and crusaders" led by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Tawhid and Jihad justify the beheading of foreign hostages with the Qu’ranic verses In May 2004, Tawhid and Jihad announced it had joined forces with the Salafiah al-Mujahidiah group of Abu-Dajanah al-Iraqi.

2003

2004