VZCZCXRO0644
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL
DE RUEHKUK #0139/01 2271131
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 151131Z AUG 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0710
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0672
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0738

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, POLMIL, NCT, IRMO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/15/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS PINR PREL PTER IZ KDEM
SUBJECT: KIRKUK POLICE SAY SECURITY SITUATION DETERIORATING 
 
KIRKUK 00000139  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jim Bigus, PRT Leader, POL, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C) INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY:  According to police, the 
security situation in Kirkuk province has reached new lows.  IP 
forces were taking major casualties and the Sadr group was 
encouraging movement from the south to areas in southern Kirkuk 
in an attempt to ignite tensions between Sunni and Shia groups. 
Terrorist groups had successfully infiltrated the IA and IP 
forces and the Mujahedeen Company, Al-Tawhid al Jihad, Ansar 
al-Sunna, Ansar al-Islam, and Takferyeen were the primary 
terrorist groups in Kirkuk. END INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On July 24, IPAO met with Brigadier General Serhad 
Qadir who is responsible for all the police stations and 
districts of Kirkuk province outside of Kirkuk city proper.  He 
said that he commanded more than 5,000 police officers and he 
discussed the deteriorating security situation in Kirkuk and 
provided detailed information on the groups he believes are 
primarily responsible. 
 
SADR AND ISF INFILTRATION TO BLAME 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) The security situation was degenerating and for the 
first time groups were attempting to destabilize the area by 
igniting tensions between Sunni and Shia groups in Kirkuk 
according to Qadir.  He believed this was primarily the work of 
the Sadr movement who were encouraging migration from the south 
to areas in southern Kirkuk.  Qadir also noted an increased 
effort from the Sadr group towards recruitment of dissatisfied 
Shia Turcoman.  He said that Shia were expelled from the Hewija 
area of Kirkuk and that Sunni and Shia have recently begun 
killing each other, which was unprecedented since Operation 
Iraqi Freedom in Kirkuk. 
 
¶4.  (C) Qadir believed that terrorist groups had successfully 
infiltrated and weakened the IA and IP forces and that over the 
past six months these subgroups have become more active and 
bold.  He referred to a recent major battle where several IP 
members were killed and three coalition soldiers were wounded. 
After the battle the forces discovered they were fighting 
elements of the IA.  Qadir says he began developing a list of 
"bad seeds" within the IP and IA and that he planned to give the 
list to Coalition forces.  He said from April 1 to June 1, 2006 
that 189 IP members were killed and 384 wounded in Kirkuk 
province.  He did not have statistics yet for June and July but 
believed those numbers have increased significantly in the past 
two months.  He noted this as a specific problem because these 
officers were not being replaced and this loss weakened the 
police to a high degree. 
 
PRIMARY GROUPS RESPONSIBLE FOR ATTACKS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Mujahedeen Company:  This organization was well 
organized with a strong budget, according to Qadir.  It was 
composed from former elements of the Iraqi police and army under 
Saddam.  He said the group received funding from former Ba'ath 
party members, Syria, and Iran.  When asked why they would 
receive support from their former enemy (Iran), Qadir discussed 
the recent capture of Iranian intelligent agents in Kirkuk.  He 
stated that under questioning the agents said they were willing 
to provide support because the failure of the coalition forces 
was more important than their hatred for each other.  Qadir said 
that this sentiment was reinforced from several other sources 
including terrorist leaders who stated that the Ba'athists were 
working with Iranian support and that they have two major goals: 
 to defeat the American forces and to cause sectarian strife in 
Kirkuk.  (Note.  There have been recent reports that the 
Mujahedeen Company has expelled Shia citizens from Hewija, a 
Sunni stronghold in Kirkuk.  End Note.)  Led by former army 
officers it also contains elements of Saddam's Fedaydeen 
according to Qadir. 
 
¶6. (C) Al-Tawhid al-Jihad (unified for holy war):  This wing of 
the Al-Qaeda network was headed by Zarqawi and primarily used 
IEDs in their attacks according to Qadir.  He noted this was a 
group of Sunni hardliners who supported a small number of 
foreign fighters in Kirkuk city and Hewija.  Qadir explained 
that this group (although perhaps not formally aligned with 
al-Qaeda at that time) was organized in Iraq prior to OIF and 
was tolerated by Saddam in order to seem accommodating to 
Islamic fundamentalism.  He made reference to an incident where 
Saddam's son Uday beheaded several "immoral women" as a way of 
showing support for this group. 
 
¶7.  (C) Ansar al-Sunna:  A mixed ethnic group loosely affiliated 
 
KIRKUK 00000139  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
with Al Qaeda that works primarily for money.  This group was 
formed on a Sunni ideological basis at the higher levels but the 
majority of its members in Kirkuk were not driven by ideology 
but by payment according to Qadir.  Their primary methods 
included kidnapping for ransom and cells were organized to carry 
out static bombings.  According to Qadir, they do not generally 
fight face to face. 
 
¶8.  (C) Ansar al-Islam:  According to Qadir this was a Kurdish 
group based out of the Halabja area.  Qadir said the Kurd who 
was killed with Zarqawi was a known member from the Kahler 
district of Kirkuk.  Qadir believed this group was still run 
from Norway by Najmuddin Faraj Ahmad (Mullah Krekar).  He stated 
that the group received funding and arms from al-Qaeda.  The 
group was responsible for many attacks in Kirkuk and controlled 
villages in the Biyare area of the Surren Mountains between 
Halabja and the Iranian border where approximately 700 members, 
including dozens of foreigners, operated according to Qadir. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Takferyeen:  The smallest of the groups but one of the 
most dangerous according to Qadir. This organization encouraged 
suicide operations, beheadings, and violent acts of an extreme 
nature.  He said that this group was not interested in money and 
felt that they had a religious duty to conduct jihad.  Qadir 
noted that this group was also connected to Al-Qaeda. 
 
BIOGRAPHIC NOTE 
--------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Brigadier General Serhad Qadir has survived three 
assassination attempts, the most recent being from poisoned 
sweets provided by a newly married colleague.  After the 
poisoning he was rushed to Germany.  After he recovered he 
returned to his position in Kirkuk.  His brother, who was a 
member of the IP, and six members of his family have been killed 
in the last three years.  He joined the Peshmerga in 1982, 
graduated from the Erbil police academy in 1992, and 
subsequently held progressively responsible positions in the 
Erbil police department. He was the coordinator between Kurdish 
and Coalition forces in Kirkuk during OIF.  He is supported by 
the KDP and maintains a close liaison with the KDP Asayish head 
in Kirkuk. 
JBIGUS