SUMMARY

One-sided attacks by the Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Soldiers of the Prophets Companions) took place in the context of growing sectarian tension in Iraq in the aftermath of the interstate conflict between Iraq and the USA, the UK and Australia in 2003. Following the removal of the Iraqi government led by Saddam Hussein, the most influential political actors during the process of writing a new constitution were the former opposition representatives of the Kurdish and majority Shia Muslim population.

The JJamaat Jund al-Sahaba claimed to represent the minority Sunni Muslim population in Iraq and accused all Shia Muslims of co-operating with the government and the US-led supporting troops. The group claimed responsibility for a few high-profile bombs that targeted public areas with predominantly Shia Muslim victims.

In October 2006, the Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba ceased to exist as an independent organization when it merged into ISI (Dawlat al’-Iraq al-Islamiyya, Islamic State in Iraq).

Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2005, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 6 May 2005 following a suicide car bomb attack on a market place in the southern Iraqi town of Suwayra where at least 31 people were killed.