Al-Qaeda in Iraq

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Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was a Salafi jihadist terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until his death on 7 June 2006, when he was killed in a targeted bombing in Hibhib, Iraq by the United States Air Force. On October 15, the organization was dissolved to establish the Islamic State of Iraq. The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. In 2004 al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Under the leadership of al-Zarqawi, AQI was engaged in various militant activities during the early stages of the Iraqi insurgency, with the objective of expelling the U.S.-led coalition and establishing an Islamic state in Iraq. In January 2006, AQI and seven other Sunni guerrilla groups formed the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), which on 15 October 2006 disbanded to form the "Islamic State of Iraq."

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