2005 Erbil bombing

The 2005 Erbil bombing was a suicide attack on the offices of Kurdish political parties in Erbil, Iraq, on May 4, 2005. The attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body as people lined up outside a police recruiting center in Erbil.[1]Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility. This attack is an example of Religious Terrorism, groups who commit terrorist acts because of religion believe that their deity or deities are on their side and that their violence is divinely inspired and approved.[2] This attack is also an example of Strategic terrorism. Which is a form of terrorism where the terrorist plans to inflict mass casualties. The goals of Strategic terrorism are normally not local objectives but global objectives or regional objectives.[3] Ansar al-Sunna's goal is to transform the country of Iraq into an Islamic state so their goals are regional.

Background Info on Ansar al-Sunna

Ansar al-Sunna stands for Supporters of Islam. "They are an militant Islamic Kurdish separatist movement seeking to transform Iraq into an Islamic state".[4] This group has a Salafist worldview, which means that they insist on a puritanical form of Islam and they seek to emulate the practices of Muhammad.[5] This movement was founded in 2001 by Mullah Krekar and they got financial and logistical help from al-Qaeda and Osama Bin laden. Some of the members of this organization transport money from Germany to northern Iraq to help finance the group.[6]  "This group targets secular Iraqi Kurds-particularly members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)".[7]  Ansar was named a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S. Department of State on March 22, 2004.[8] They are considered an active terrorist group in northern and central Iraq today. Ansar al-Islam operates primarily in northern and central Iraq and claims the second largest number of Sunni jihadist attacks in Iraq after Al-Qaeda.[9] This organization is also known to behead their captives.[10] The goal of Ansar-al Sunna is to have an Islamic country where its people are strong. There are a maximum of two thousand "hard fighters" in Ansar-al-Sunna.[11] This group is the main threat in Northern Iraq right now. This group will most likely continue to attack the Kurds until the country has reached a decision on the position of the Kurds.

Before the 2005 Erbil bombing Ansar al-Sunna attacked Eid al-Adha, on February 1, 2004 the Muslim festival that celebrates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael to Allah, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan were celebrating the holiday in Erbil, Iraq, when suicide bombers entered the PUK and KDP headquarters and killed 109 (MEIB)people, including KDP Deputy Prime Minister Sami Abdul Rahman.[12] One hundred and seventeen people were killed during this bombing.[13]

More Information on The Bombing

In the 2005 Erbil bombing that happened on May 4, the suicide bomber dressed up as a job seeker and blew himself up Wednesday morning outside a police recruiting center in the Kurdish provincial capital, killing at least 60 Kurds, most of them prospective policemen, and wounding 150 others.[14] This attack was intended as retribution for the involvement of Kurdish troops fighting insurgents alongside American forces. This bombing was the biggest act of terrorism in Iraq since early March 2005. Because the bomber could not get into the police recruiting center he detonated himself by the gate where young men gathered, killing 46, including the policeman standing outside of the recruiting center. Later it was found that a total of 60 people were found dead. The damage that was seen after the bombing was horrible there were pieces of body parts everywhere.[15] There has been a wave of attacks going on in Iraq because the new government is now mostly Kurds.

Reasons for Conflict

Reasons for the Conflict Between Kurds and Ansar-al Sunna

The Kurdish Islamic Conflict began in 2001. In 2003, the conflict merged with the larger 2003 invasion of Iraq, which led to the defeat of Ansar al-Islam. After the invasion, Ansar al-Islam continued a low-level terrorist revolt against the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Ansar al-Islam and its allied groups seized control of the area around Halabja from the PUK in late 2001 and that is why there is military conflict between them. Fighting continued throughout 2002. Ansar al-Sunna has tortured prisoners and executed PUK officials.

Reasons for the Conflict Between Baghdad and Erbil

Conflict has also arisen with the Kurds because they have aimed to repopulate Kirkuk and that has arisen some problems with the Arabs in Baghdad. The Arabs have lived there for more than 30 years and they're reluctant to leave. One of the largest oilfields in the area lies underneath Kirkuk and that complicates the dispute. The conflict between the Kurds and Baghdad is mostly due to land. It has been difficult to resolve the conflict between Baghdad and Erbil because it dates back decades and has a lot to do with natural resources.[16] It seems the Kurds are reluctant to renounce their claim of the land and this conflict might take some 50 to 100 years to resolve.[17]

Other Bombings that happened in Erbil

In 2007 the Interior Ministry Building in Erbil was struck.[18]

On September 29, 2013 a car bomb shocked the capital of Erbil. This bomb left six attackers and six security officers dead and 60 wounded.[19]

On 23 August in 2014 a car bomb in Erbil exploded and wounded several people.

[20]

In November 2014 a suicide car bomber attacked the Provincial Governor's Building in Erbil. This car bomb killed five people and injured 29 others.[21]