The Islamic Emirate of Byara was a short-lived unrecognized

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

Islamic state An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

ruled by

Sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

which declared independence from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in 2001 and ended in 2003.

Foundation

In September 2001, in the

Byara District Byara District ( ku, قەزای بیارە, Qezay Biyare) is a district of the Halabja Governorate, in Kurdistan Region, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, transli ...

, located in the

Avroman Avroman or Hawraman, ( ku, هه‌ورامان, translit=Hewraman, fa, اورامان) is a mountainous region located within the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah in western Iran and in north-eastern Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The main part o ...

region on the

Iran–Iraq border The Iran–Iraq border runs for 1,599 km (994 mi) from the tripoint with Turkey in the north down to the Shatt al-Arab (known as Arvand Rud in Iran) waterway and out to the Persian Gulf in the south. Although the boundary was first deter ...

, a

jihadist group called

Ansar al-Islam Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستان),Chalk, Peter, ''Encyclopedia of Terrorism'' Volume 1, 2012, ABC-CLIO simply called Ansar al-Islam ( ku, ئەنسارولئیسلام), also nicknamed the Kurdi ...

set up the Islamic Emirate of Byara, with the city of Byara as its centre.

Mullah Krekar Najmuddin Vahid Faraj Ahmad ( ku, نەجمەدین وەحید فەرەج ئەحمەد, July 7, 1956), better known as Mullah Krekar ( ku, مه‌لا کرێکار), is an Iraqi Kurdish Sunni Islamic scholar and militiant who was the founder and f ...

, leader of Ansar al-Islam, was the head of the Emirate, and Wirya Salih and

Ali Bapir Ali Bapir, A.K.A Mamosta Ali Bapir ( ku, عه‌لی باپیر) is a Kurdish Islamic scholar and politician in Iraqi Kurdistan. He is the founder and current president of the Kurdistan Justice Group (formerly known as the Islamic Group of Kurd ...

were his deputies. The emirate was the first time that Kurdish Islamists succeeded at controlling territory and establishing

jihadists from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

provided vital cross-border support to the Emirate. When the area was under embargo, Iranian Kurdish jihadists set up networks that illegally smuggled to the area and aided the Emirate.https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/03092020 https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/23062020

Life under the Islamic Emirate

fighters in the Islamic Emirate of Byara embraced both their

and

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

identities and advocated for a religious, cultural, and traditional lifestyle, hence why Ansar al-Islam fighters wore Kurdish clothes and spoke only in

, and encouraged their supporters to do the same.

has also been accused of committing atrocities against civilians, including persecution of non-Muslims, enforcing strict

, destroying anything they claimed to be "un-Islamic", and desecrating

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

shrines.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

also accused Ansar al-Islam of torturing prisoners and executing any captured

Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was known as the Royal Iraqi Army up until the coup ...

, or

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

soldiers, usually by beheading.

was accused of supporting and having ties to the Islamic Emirate of Byara, as well as allowing Ansar al-Islam fighters to hide in Iran.

Collapse

The Emirate ended after the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, with support from

and the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, ...

, led a series of missile attacks on Byara in 2003, and then launched an offensive. After the loss of the Emirate, Ansar fighters gathered at the

, where

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

turned a blind eye to the

jihadists' activity, and

Iranian Kurds Kurds in Iran ( ku, کورد لە ئێران, translit=Kurdên Îranê, fa, کردها در ایران) constitute a large minority in the country with a population of around 9 and 10 million people. Geography Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Ku ...

who gave Ansar fighters asylum in

got approval from

, only if the jihadists arrived secretly and quietly, and also that the jihadists would be housed in remote areas. The

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

warned

who were housing jihadists that if the jihadists were seen publicly, they would be arrested and sent back to

. The

also wanted the treatment of wounded fighters to be done secretly. Some Kurdish jihadists brought their families with them to

; some were detained by authorities for two brief weeks, and then were released and allowed to stay in Iran. It was also alleged that

made an agreement with Iran that they would not commit any terrorism in Iran or attack any Iranians. Some jihadists settled in Iran, with others returning to Iraq, either joining other jihadist groups, or quitting the jihadist lifestyle. In late 2016, around the 15th anniversary of Byara,

said that "time has come to break off from Iraq" and that he "wholeheartedly" supports Kurdish independence, even though he didn't support the Kurdish parties (mostly

KDP KDP may refer to: * Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands) * Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraqi Kurdistan * Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran of Iranian Kurdistan * Korea Democratic Party * Khmer Democratic Party *Kappa Del ...

and PUK) due to their

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

tendencies, he also said that he holds no negativity against any Kurdish government officials.

References

{{reflist 2000s in Iraq Former countries in Asia Former emirates Former theocracies Former unrecognized countries Rebellions in Asia Emirates States and territories established in 2001 States and territories disestablished in 2003 2001 establishments in Asia 2003 disestablishments in Asia Former Kurdish states Former Kurdish states in Iraq Lists of former countries Former countries in Western Asia Iraqi Kurdistan Iranian Kurdistan