Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
Historically, the IMK’s members came from diverse backgrounds and held a wealth of different ideological opinions. Although the group’s members shared the same general Sunni Islamist ideology, the IMK housed several factions with different sets of goals and beliefs. These factions influenced IMK ideology, strategy, and tactics. For example, a piece of the IMK membership in the late 1980s and early 1990s was composed of veterans of the Afghanistan War, who tended to be more radical in their jihadist beliefs than the average Kurdish Islamist.[49] This faction drove the IMK to adopt a more radical jihadist ideology. It supported the group’s efforts to wage jihad against the Iraqi government from 1988 to 1992, and it engineered IMK rhetoric that emphasized the Kurds’ place within the larger Islamic community rather than their identity as a Kurdish nation. This more radical jihadist rhetoric and ideology was also influenced by two outside sources. First, it was partially a result of the influence exerted over the IMK by Iran, which had an interest in destabilizing the Iraqi government and preventing the rise of Kurdish nationalism.[50] Second, IMK rhetoric and ideology was heavily influenced by the writings of Egyptian Islamist Sayid Qutb’s, which were first translated into Kurdish in the late 1980s.[51]
Though the more radical Islamist elements of the IMK were able to influence some of the group’s policies, these factions could not control all of the IMK’s actions. In these areas, the radical factions within the IMK were often frustrated with the goals of the organization’s leadership. For instance, the IMK did not impose Shariah Law on the territories it controlled despite its Islamist ideology. While the group advocated for a conservative agenda in the KRG, it did not run on a platform of imposing Shariah Law. Instead, the group claimed to support the freedom of opinion, as long as those opinions were not incompatible with Islamic principles.[52]
Disagreements among the IMK’s members over group ideology were one of the primary reasons why the group splintered in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Many of the more radical jihadist elements of the organization left to establish their own groups, many of which merged in 2001 to form Ansar al-Islam.[53] In 2003, the IMK adopted a policy of non-violence, which was condemned by Ansar al-Islam and other more radical Kurdish Islamist groups.[54]
Though the IMK was originally created as a militant organization, it has a long history of participating in political activities. Throughout the 1990s, the IMK was the third most popular and powerful Iraqi Kurdish political party following the PUK and KDP.[55] It participated in the first Kurdish parliamentary election in 1992 but won only 5.1% of the vote, thus failing to pass the 7% threshold needed to obtain a seat. From 1992-1998, the IMK largely shunned the political process, instead carrying out attacks against the PUK-KDP regional government. However, in 1998, the group re-entered Kurdish politics after agreeing to a 1997 truce with the PUK.[56] In the 2001 election, the IMK received around 20% of the vote in KDP- and PUK-controlled areas of Iraqi Kurdistan and over 50% of the vote in Halabja, the group’s territorial base.[57] Although PUK the IMK largely ceased its militant activities after its 1997 truce with the PUK, it was not until 2003 that the group formally disarmed and committed itself entirely to political pursuits. After its successes in the 2001 election, IMK’s popularity largely waned. In the 2005 national elections, the IMK won 0.7% of the vote and earned two seats in the Interim National Assembly.[58] In the 2009 Kurdish parliamentary elections, the IMK won 1.5% and gained two seats in the Kurdish parliament.[59] The IMK subsequently lost one of those seats in the 2013 Kurdish parliamentary elections when it received only 1.1% of the vote.[60] The IMK has not joined any political alliances, put any candidates up for office, or participated in politics in any observable way since 2013. While the IMK has not participated in politics, some splinters of the IMK, such as the Islamic Group of Kurdistan, are actively involved in the KRG and ran candidates in the 2018 Iraqi elections.
Very little is known about the IMK’s tactics. From 1988 to 1992, the group waged jihad against the Iraqi government, but there are no verifiable reports of attacks on Iraqi soldiers carried out by the organization.[61] However, there is evidence that the Syrian government funded Afghanistan War veterans to train the IMK militant wings in a variety of tactics in 1992-1993. These included the coordination of small military confrontations, assassinations, and road-bombings. The Syrian government hoped that the IMK would use these tactics to against Kurdish nationalist groups like the PUK and the KDP, which the Syrian government feared would try to stir up Kurdish nationalist sentiments within the Syrian Kurdish population.[62] Indeed, from 1993-1994, the IMK engaged in a series of confrontations with the PUK in northern Iraq but was eventually driven out of the region and into exile in Iran.[63] After the PUK ceded the Halabja-Howraman region back to the IMK in 1996, the IMK largely reduced its militant activities. However, there is some evidence that some of the IMK’s elements may have fought alongside the KDP in the Kurdish Civil War and that the group was responsible for assassinating the leader of Kurdish Hamas, Hassan Sofi, in 1997. The IMK was officially disarmed by the KRG in 2003 and has not carried out any attacks since that time.[64]
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
Although the IMK was known to have participated in militant activities throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, there was very little documentation about the specific incidences of violence perpetrated by the group.
1988: In response to the Hussein regime’s use of chemical weapons on the civilian population of Halabjah in 1988, the IMK declared jihad on the Iraqi government. The group was believed to have carried out attacks against government troops from 1988-1992, but specific instances of such attacks have not been documented (unknown killed, unknown wounded).[65]
December 1993: Violent clashes between the PUK and IMK erupted in December 1993 in the Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya province and resulted in the withdrawal of the IMK from the region (unknown killed, unknown wounded).[66]
1998: The IMK assassinated Hassan Sofi, a former IMK member who split from the group and subsequently founded Kurdish Hamas (at least 1 killed, unknown wounded).[67]
This group has not been designated as a terrorist organization by any major national government or international body.
The IMK provided a variety of social services, such as health care and religious education, to the areas under its jurisdiction.[68] Despite its conservative Islamist ideology, the IMK did not impose Shariah law on any of the communities that it controlled.[69]
The group’s popularity among community members fluctuated since it first entered politics in the 1990s, as evidenced by its varied electoral performances. The IMK drew most of its support from the area around Halabjah, which was its center of operations.[70]
The IMK also published a twice-weekly Kurdish newspaper, Buzutnaqay Islami, during the early 2000s.[71]
Throughout the 1990s, the IMK’s relationships with the two largest political groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, the PUK and the KDP, were often strained. After failing to win any seats in the Kurdish parliament in the 1992 elections, Iran and Syria funded the IMK to attack the KDP-PUK coalition government in the hopes of subverting its Kurdish nationalist goals.[72] The PUK and IMK violently clashed in the Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya provinces in 1993, eventually driving the IMK to retreat from the region.[73] Then, in 1994, the Kurdish Civil War erupted between the PUK and the KDP and distracted the PUK from its conflict with the IMK. Both sides hired Kurdish Islamists to fight in the war, but the IMK aligned with the KDP. In 1997, the IMK agreed to cooperate with the PUK, and it joined the PUK dominated government the following year. Between 1998-2013, the PUK, the KDP, and the IMK participated together in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Although the PUK, the KDP, and the IMK held diverse political and ideological views, there was no violence between the groups during this time.[74]
The IMK is the parent group of most of the Iraqi Kurdish Islamist organizations in existence today, most notably Kurdish Hamas (1991), the Second Soran Unit (1998), the Kurdistan Islamic Group (2001), and the Reformist Group (2001).[75] Each of these groups was created as a splinter of the central IMK organization. In 1999, Kurdish Hamas rejoined the IMK along with another Kurdish Islamist group called al-Nahda to form the Islamic Unity Movement of Kurdistan (IUMK). However, the IUMK disintegrated in 2001 due to the ideological differences of its component groups.[76] After the dissolution of the IUMK, Kurdish Hamas, the Second Soran Unit, and the Reformist Group merged with several other Kurdish and Arab Islamist organizations to form Ansar al-Islam. Although there were no documented incidents of violence between Ansar al-Islam and the IMK, Ansar al-Islam often denounced the IMK for its cooperation with the largely secular KRG and for its strategy of non-violence. [77]
The IMK also had a contentious relationship with the Islamic State (IS). Although it shared IS’s Islamist beliefs – though the IMK was far less radical in these beliefs than IS – the IMK refused to send any of its members to Syria or Iraq to fight alongside IS. This refusal generated little goodwill from IS’s leaders, who threatened to decapitate any Kurdish Islamists that they captured.[78]
The Iranian government heavily influenced the IMK since its formation in 1987. Iran played a pivotal role in the group’s creation, providing Uthman Abdul Aziz with the operational support, funding, and training needed to establish the IMK. Iran continued funding the organization, and, in return, the IMK did not push a Kurdish nationalist agenda that could have sparked unrest among Iran’s Kurdish minority.[79]
The United States and Saudi Arabian governments also provided aid to the IMK. Saudi Arabia financed Sunni mosques built by the IMK, while the United States provided general financial aid to the group after it joined the KRG in 1998.[80]
[1]Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan.” Al-Monitor, 14 December 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Islamic State Threatens Kurdish Clerics.” Medium, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.
[2] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[3] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
[4] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[5] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan.” Al-Monitor, 14 December 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Islamic State Threatens Kurdish Clerics.” Medium, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.
[6] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[7] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[8] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
[9] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[10] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[11] Meleagrou-Hitchens, Alexander, and Ranj Alaaldin. “The Kurds of ISIS: Why Some Join the Terrorist Group.” Foreign Affairs, August 8, 2016. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2016-08-08/kurds-isis
[12] Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991.” New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995: 98-130
[13] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.; Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991.” New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995: 20; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.; c.f. Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[14] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007, pg. 9-10.
[15] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007, pg. 9-10.
[16] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
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[19] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
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[23] Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.
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[25] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[26] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[27] Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.
[28] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Islamic State Threatens Kurdish Clerics.” Medium, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.; Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” The National. 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015. https://www.thenational.ae/world/iraq-s-islamist-kurds-under-fire-from-b... Kurdi, Mahmoud Y. “Leader Explains Declining Power of Islamic Parties in Kurdistan.” Rudaw, 27 May 2014. Web. 27 July 2015.
[29] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
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[31] Shareef, Mohammed. “Dirasat: Kurdish Islamists in Iraq.” King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, June 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.; Kurdi, Mahmoud Y. “Leader Explains Declining Power of Islamic Parties in Kurdistan.” Rudaw, 27 May 2014. Web. 27 July 2015.
[32] “Mullah Krekar.” Society for Recognition of Famous People, Date unknown. Web. 27 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
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[34] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
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[37] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
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[42] “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
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[44] “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[45] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[46] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[47] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015. “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
[48] Inga Rogg. “Die Kurden im Bann der Islamisten.”,Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2 December 2002.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
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[50] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan.” Al-Monitor, 14 December 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[51] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[52] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.; Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991.” New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995: 20; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
[53] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.
[54] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.
[55]Saeed, Yerevan. “The Fading Star of Kurdistan’s Islamic Parties.” Rudaw, 20 May 2014. Web. 4 August 2014. “Political Parties in Kurdistan Polls.” Rudaw, 19 September 2014. Web. 4 August 2014.
[56] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[57] Inga Rogg. “Die Kurden im Bann der Islamisten.”,Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2 December 2002; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[58] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[59] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[60] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[61] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan.” Al-Monitor, 14 December 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[62] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[63] Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991.” New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995: 98-130
[64] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[65] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Syria war brings al-Qaeda threat to Iraqi Kurdistan.” Al-Monitor, 14 December 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Islamic State Threatens Kurdish Clerics.” Medium, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.
[66] “Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan.” Human Rights Watch, Date unknown. Web. 29 July 2015.
[67] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[68] Amnesty International. Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991. New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995. Pg. 20.
[69] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 1 August 2014.
[70] Inga Rogg. “Die Kurden im Bann der Islamisten.”,Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2 December 2002.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.
[71] “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
[72] Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.
[73] Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Iraq: Human Rights Abuses In Iraqi Kurdistan Since 1991.” New York: Amnesty International USA, 1995: 98-130
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[75] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015. Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
[76] “Iraqi Report: June 11, 2004.” Radio Free Europe 7(21), 11 June 2004. Web. 28 July 22015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.
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[78] Van Wilgenburg, Vladimir. “Islamic State Threatens Kurdish Clerics.” Medium, 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 28 July 2015.; Naylor, Hugh. “Iraq’s Islamist Kurds under fire from both sides of the war.” 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.; Kurdi, Mahmoud Y. “Leader Explains Declining Power of Islamic Parties in Kurdistan.” Rudaw, 27 May 2014. Web. 27 July 2015.
[79] “Prominent Iraqi Islamic Groups.” Islamopedia, Date unknown. Web. July 28 2015.; Kakei, Saed. “The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan: From conflict to cooperation.” EKurd Daily, 25 March 2013. Web. 28 July 2015.; “Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement.” BBC News, 13 Jan. 2003. Web. 27 July 2015.; Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.
[80] Romano, David. “An Outline of Kurdish Islamist Groups in Iraq.” The Jamestown Foundation, September 2007. Web. 27 July 2015.