Al-Qaeda in Iraq

al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), also known as al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, is the Iraqi division of the international Salafi jihadi militant organization al-Qaeda. It is part of the Iraqi insurgency.

The group was founded in 2003 as a reaction to the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq, and first led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who declared allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in October 2004. It first operated under the name Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Arabic: جماعة التوحيد والجهاد‎, "Group of Monotheism and Jihad"); since 2004 its official name has been Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn ("Organization of Jihad's Base in Mesopotamia"). Foreign fighters from outside Iraq are widely thought to play a key role in its network.