IAI clashes with al Qaeda

NEFA Foundation: IAI Claims Recent Clashes with Al-Qaida in Samarra, "Liberating" Ten Iraqi Hostages

By Evan Kohlmann

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of a recent communiqué issued by the prominent Sunni insurgent organization known as the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI). According to the statement, "After a call from our supporters and brothers in Samarra and its various neighborhoods, mujahideen from the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) launched a blessing attack in the Samarra region and were able to free ten prisoners (the majority of whom were mujahideen and the others being innocent poor people). They had been previously been taken captive by Al-Qaida after raids on their bases in the Shaykh Mohammed district south of Samarra... Those who were responsible for this prison were arrested, while the others managed to escape. We will eventually post a complete video-recording.” [For more information about the IAI and its ongoing troubled relationship with Al-Qaida's network in Iraq, see "State of the Sunni Insurgency in Iraq: August 2007"]

A copy of the communique can be downloaded from the NEFA Foundation website, c/o NEFA's TerrorWatch subscription service.

January 4, 2008 10:00 PM Link