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LONDON (AFP) - A US intelligence officer told a British newspaper that Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has united insurgent groups in Baghdad to target the Shiite Muslim majority in the city.
The comments came as Zarqawi declared "all-out war" on Iraq's long-suffering Shiites and told all other religious and tribal groups to join his anti-government campaign or also face attacks.
The Times newspaper quoted the anonymous officer as saying: "We have got reason to believe that al-Zarqawi has now been given tactical command in the city over groups that have had to merge under him for the sake of survival."
An intelligence summary, cited by The Times, said of an estimated 16,000 Sunni Muslim insurgents, 6,700 were hardcore Islamic fundamentalists, who have been supplemented by 4,000 members after an amalgamation with Jaysh Muhammad -- formerly an insurgent group loyal to
Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime.
Source: Agence France Presse
September 17, 2005 at 01:58 PM in Al Qaeda | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home