Ansar al-Islam (Kurdishئه‌نسه‌ر ئه‌ل إسلام), Supporters or Partisans of Islam) is a Kurdish Sunni Islamist group, promoting a radical interpretation of Islam, close to the official Saudi ideology of Wahhabism with strict application of Sharia. The group was formed in the Kurdish-controlled northern provinces of Iraq near the Iranian border, with bases initially in and near the villages of Biyara and Tawela, northeast of Halabja. Ansar al-Islam was formed in September 2001 as a merger of Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam),... read more