An Iraqi Insurgent Tell-All: Al-Qaida Is To Blame For "Killing Sunnis" And "Demolishing Their Homes, Mosques, and Their Hospitals"

By Evan Kohlmann

The NEFA Foundation has obtained a copy of a recent interview with a senior military commander of the Hamas al-Iraq insurgent group in the restive Diyala province of Iraq. During the interview, the unnamed Hamas commander sharply condemned the "criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and... other jihad movements... The occupying forces were unable to enter many districts and villages of Diyala until Al-Qaida paved the way for them when they began killing the Sunnis and demolishing their homes, mosques, and their hospitals." The Hamas al-Iraq commander also addressed allegations of Iranian logistical support for local Al-Qaida operations, and the relationship between Iraqi Hamas and a variety of other organizations--including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the Council of Iraqi Ulema, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Awakening Councils, the 1920 Revolution Brigades, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Front (JAAMI), the Mujahideen Army, and the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI).

Among the highlights of the interview:

- "...We apologize for those who have stepped beyond the boundaries of good Muslim behavior… after a series of criminal actions launched by the Al-Qaida network targeting innocent civilians and, separately, other jihad movements. We have sought to find solutions to stop the harm and unify the ranks of the mujahideen—yet, neither our efforts nor those of others have yielded anything but betrayal and a lack of reciprocation by the Al-Qaida network. Ansar al-Islam knows quite well that, from the very beginning, we asked for their commander to be the mediator between us and [Al-Qaida], but they refused to do so.”

- "The occupying forces were unable to enter many districts and villages of Diyala until Al-Qaida paved the way for them when they began killing the Sunnis and demolishing their homes, mosques, and their hospitals. They did what the sectarian militias loyal to Iran could not do, and they finished off the job for them."

- "Anyone who has followed the impact of Al-Qaida in the Diyala province will generally find that wherever they go, they cripple daily life. We can summarize their actions in the Diyala province as follows: demolishing mosques (as what befell the Kanaan Mosque) and interrupting prayers; stealing the salaries of deserving retirees; preventing rations from reaching the people of Diyala for allegedly supporting the Iraqi Ministry of Trade; stealing livestock, especially from the families of martyrs from the mujahideen; killing women and children, and mutilating their bodies, as what befell our brothers from Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya and some of our mujahideen in Kanaan and Bahraz; shuttering hospitals and stealing many valuable pieces of medical equipment, destroying them or else exporting them to unknown locations."

- "While we were fighting against the American occupiers, the sectarian militias loyal to Iran were our biggest problem, because they know our mujahideen, they know our locations, our whereabouts, and where we live. However, once this problem was solved by the unified efforts of the resistance heroes from all the mujahideen brigades who defeated them, the Al-Qaida network showed up to take over an identical role in creating problems and havoc. This is what has allowed the American enemy to breathe, regain his strength, and to raid the villages and cities of the Diyala province. This Al-Qaida project has helped drain our reserves of fighters and weaponry and has facilitated the work of the occupiers."

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