The Second Soran Unit (SSU) was a predominantly Kurdish, Salafi militant group formed in 1998 after a group of approximately 350-400 fighters split from the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (IMK).[i] This splinter group, led by As'ad Muhammad Hasan (more commonly known as Aso Hawleri), was largely comprised of Kurdish, in addition to roughly 50-60 Arab, veterans of the Afghanistan War against the Soviet Union.[ii] The SSU split from the IMK in response to the IMK’s 1997 truce with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), its subsequent cooperation with the PUK and Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), and the SSU’s perception that Iranian influence over the IMK leadership was increasing. The SSU was vehemently opposed to both the KDP and PUK because of their secular ideologies and to Iran because of its Shiite faith.[iii]

Soon after its inception in 1998, the SSU took control of the IMK’s historic stronghold in Biyara, from where it based its operations for the next three years. The SSU possessed advanced small firearms as well as a vast arsenal of modern large munitions, making it one of the best-armed and most capable Kurdish militant groups in Iraq.[iv] The SSU is thought to have carried out military operations against the KDP and PUK between 1998-2001, although no documentation of specific attacks exists and the group did not publically claim responsibility for any incidences of violence.[v]

In September 2001, the SSU merged with two other splinter groups of the IMK, the al-Tawhid Islamic Front and Kurdish Hamas (unrelated to Hamas Iraq or to the Palestinian Hamas), to form Jund al-Islam.  Shortly thereafter, Jund al-Islam merged with several other Salaf organizations to form Ansar al-Islam.[vi]

2001: 350-400 (Human Rights Watch)[i]

The SSU reportedly possessed highly advanced artillery and heavy weaponry, most notably surface-to-surface missiles known as Daushkas and 106mm artillery shells.  However, it remains unclear who funded the group or how it obtained these arms.[i]

The SSU operated predominantly in Iraqi Kurdistan and was headquartered in the city of Biyara near the Iranian border.[i]

The SSU was a primarily militant group and does not appear to have taken part in large-scale political activities until after joining Jund al-Islam. However, in 1998, Hawleri created a political activist group called the Central Islamic Faction (CIF). The group was led by Hawleri and a Turkoman named Abu Khubayi Barachak, who was later imprisoned by the KDP on terrorism charges. The CIF’s activities were largely undocumented and thus its purpose and connection to the SSU remain unclear.[1]

Very little is known about the SSU’s targets or tactics. However, it was widely known that the group possessed a large arsenal of heavy weaponry.[1]

The relationship between this group and the communities in which it resides is unknown.

The SSU split from the IMK in 1998 because it objected to the IMK’s cooperation with the largely secular KRG. In 2001, the SSU merged with the al-Tawhid Islamic Front and Kurdish Hamas to form Jund al-Islam, which became the largest founding member of Ansar al-Islam later that year.[i]

The SSU was deeply opposed to the secular PUK and KDP and violently clashed with these groups between 1998 and 2001.[ii]

There are no publicly available external influences for this group.