| Kurdistan Brigades | |
| Native Name: | (Kurdish: کەتیبەکانی کوردستان) |
| Native Name Lang: | ku |
| War: | the Iraq War and the Global War on Terrorism |
| Active: | 2001-present, largely inactive after 2010 |
| Ideology: | Islamic extremism Salafist Qutbism Salafist Jihadism Wahhabism[1] Anti-Zionism |
| Leaders: | Dilshad Kalari (unknown to unknown)Abdullah Hassan al-Sorani (2007 to unknown): al-Sorani has released public statements of behalf of AQKB and is believed to be the group’s official spokesman.[2] |
| Headquarters: | Iraqi Kurdistan, Iranian Kurdistan |
| Partof: | al-Qaeda |
| Allies: | |
| Opponents: | State opponents
Non-state opponents |
The Kurdistan Brigades,[4] are a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Iran. It is the official Kurdish branch of al-Qaeda. It has also launched several attacks on the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. The group was overshadowed by other Islamist factions but remains active.[5]
The Kurdistan Brigades were founded in 2001 in the Hamrin Mountains, as an official faction of Al-Qaeda. It was founded by former Ansar al-Islam militants. However, the creation of the Kurdistan Brigades was announced with a video called "Back to the Mountains" released in March 2007 by Al-Qaeda. From 2007 to 2010, they waged an insurgency against the Kurdistan Regional Government with many attacks against authorities. They were also active in Iranian Kurdistan.[6]
The group is considered to be relatively small, but it has camps in the Iranian Kurdish towns of Mariwan and Sanandaj.[7]
In April 2014, the Kurdistan Brigades released a statement where they criticised the Islamic State and called on Kurds to not join it.[6]
The group has launched several attacks, including its largest one being against KRG's Ministry of Interior in Erbil that killed 19 people in May 2007.[7] AQKB killed 7 border guards and one PUK security officer in Penjwan in July 2007. In September 2010, two police officers were hurt by a failed suicide attack in Sulaymaniyah.[8]