| Kurdish mujahideen | |
| Ideology: |
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| Leaders: |
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| Size: | over 10,000 |
| Area: | Kurdistan |
| Opponents: |  Iraq United StatesBa'ath loyalists MEK KDP (after 1991) PUK (after 1991) |
| Battles: | |
| Motives: | To make an independent Kurdish state under Islamic law |
| Allies: | KDP (against Iraq) PUK (against Iraq) Kurdish Hezbollah |
The Kurdish mujahideen (Kurdish: Mucahidîn Kurd) is a term used for Kurdish Islamists who fought the Ba'athist Iraqi government.
During the Iran–Iraq War, Sheikh Osman Abdulaziz, leader of the IMK, called for an independent Kurdish nation, as well as declaring a holy war against Iraq and against Ba'athism, which led independent Kurdish Islamists, Kurdish Islamist organizations, and even Peshmerga soldiers who had Islamist leanings, to form a type of united front. Many Kurdish Islamists set up training camps in the mountains of Kurdistan, recruited people, and began rebelling against Iraq.[1] [2]
Shortly before the Halabja massacre, Saddam Hussein cracked down on Kurdish Islamic scholars, which led them to flee Halabja and go to Iran, where they had strong support. That was when the Kurdish mujahideen became active in Halabja, which would later become their stronghold. Many Kurds from Halabja concluded that Jihad was the best way to Iraq. The mujahideen received many Kurdish volunteers from Iran.[3]
The mujahideen participated in the Iran-Iraq War, but at the end of the war in 1988, they mostly halted their operations, but maintained a low-level insurgency against Iraq. In the 1991 Iraqi uprisings during the Gulf War, the mujahideen heavily increased their activities, and towards the end of the war, they slowed down again. They had over 10,000 fighters at their peak.[4]
Islamist Kurds and secular Kurds became opponents after the Islamist insurgency in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was the time that Ansar al-Islam, with the help of KJG and IMK fighters, established the Islamic Emirate of Byara. The Islamic Emirate of Byara was defeated after a brief 2 years of existence, and most of the jihadists fled to Iran. The united mujahideen ended after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, although the groups remained.[5] [6]
Osman Abdulaziz and Adham Barzani had hosted Hüseyin Velioğlu and his soldiers in Iraqi Kurdistan to train for an offensive against Turkey.[7] [8]
Other mujahideen groups: