![]() US and Kurdish forces killed an estimated 250 members of Ansar al Islam during the assaults. These camps were later destroyed during the US invasion in April 2003. Zarqawi is thought to have run a camp with the approval of Ansar al Islam. Ansar al Islam established a series of camps and crude chemical weapons factory in the town of Halabja. ![]() The group seized a series of villages in northeastern Iraq along the border with Iran and imposed a Taliban-like style of government. Ansar al Islam was officially designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US Department of State on March 22, 2004Īnsar al Islam was founded by Mullah Krekar in December 2001. The group, which renamed itself Ansar al Sunnah after the US invasion of Iraq, and then renamed back to Ansar al Islam earlier this year, operates in northern Iraq. Qaswarah/Moumou was a leader in Ansar al Islam, a radical Kurdish terrorist group that has aligned itself with al Qaeda. Qaswarah and Moumou have been described as senior leaders in the Brandbergen Mosque (the US Treasury described Moumou as “the uncontested leader of an extremist group centered around the Brandbergen Mosque”).Īnsar al Sunnah / Ansar al Islam connections Both were part of Zarqawi’s inner circle (the US Treasury described Moumou as “Zarqawi’s representative in Europe for issues related to chemical and biological weapons). Both are said to have traveled to Afghanistan in the 1990s to train and maintained close ties to senior al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 7, 2007.īoth Abu Qaswarah and Moumou have been identified as Moroccan nationals with Swedish citizenship. Mohamed Moumou was classified by the Treasury as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on Dec. Our operational information is confirming that Abu Qaswarah was Moroccan-born.”īut in an inquiry with a senior US military intelligence official who is familiar with al Qaeda in Iraq’s command structure, it was confirmed that Abu Qaswarah was indeed a Swedish citizen, and in fact is none other than Mohamed Moumou, a wanted terrorist who trained in the al Qaeda-run Khalden terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.Ī look at Mohamed Moumou’s history, provided by the US Treasury Department, and Abu Qaswarah, as provided by the US military and the Swedish press, shows their background is nearly identical. ![]() “And for clarification, MNF-I never said he was Swedish. “He had many aliases but I cannot confirm any of them,” Technical Sergeant Chris Stagner, a Public Affairs Officer serving in Baghdad told The Long War Journal. The US military could neither confirm nor deny Abu Qaswarah’s citizenship. ![]() He was tied in with the notorious Brandbergen Mosque in Stockholm, which has been linked to other terror suspects. Abu Qaswarah was “born in Morocco and became a Swedish citizen in the 1990s,” The Local reported. Today, a Swedish newspaper reported that Abu Qaswarah was a naturalized Swedish citizen. He had close connections with Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the slain leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, and commanded al Qaeda forces in northern Iraq before being appointed second in command. The US military said Abu Qaswarah was a Moroccan who trained in al Qaeda camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1990s. He detonated his vest after being mortally wounded and killed three women and three children. Image courtsey of Multinational Forces Iraq.Ību Qaswarah, al Qaeda in Iraq’s second in command who was killed by US forces in Mosul, was a naturalized Swedish citizen who was wanted by United States, according to information obtained by The Long War Journal.Ību Qaswarah al Skani (the Swede), whose real name is Mohamed Moumou, was killed in Mosul during an Oct. ![]()
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