ANSAR ALSUNNA

   Ansar al-Sunna, or the Supporters of the Sunna (faith), is a militant salafi successor group to Ansar al-Islam. Into 2010, it has been fighting against the United States-led occupation of Iraq and its current government. Based in northern and central Iraq, the group includes Kurdish, Arab Sunni, and foreign fighters. Abu Abdullah al-Hassan bin Mahmoud is apparently the group's leader. Thayer Kadhim Abid Salman al-Surawi, one of its commanders, was captured in December 2008 and confessed to numerous suicide bombings and executions from 2006 to 2008.

   Since its formation, Ansar al-Sunna has carried out numerous high-profile attacks, including the suicide bombing in December 2004 of a U.S. army dining tent that killed 18 U.S. soldiers. Earlier that year, the group also killed Sami Abdul Rahman in another suicide bombing that occurred in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The group is thought to have links with other Islamic extremist organizations operating in the Sunni triangle of Iraq. However, a letter found by U.S. forces in 2007 revealed violent conflict between Ansar and al-Qaida over tactics regarding attacks on Iraqi Shiite civilians.