Kurdistan Brigades

The Kurdistan Brigades, are a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Iran. It is the official Kurdish branch of al-Qaeda. It has also launched several attacks on the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. The group was overshadowed by other Islamist factions but remains active.

Formation
The Kurdistan Brigades were founded in 2001 in the Hamrin Mountains, as an official faction of Al-Qaeda. It was founded by former Ansar al-Islam militants. However, the creation of the Kurdistan Brigades was announced with a video called "Back to the Mountains" released in March 2007 by Al-Qaeda. From 2007 to 2010, they waged an insurgency against the Kurdistan Regional Government with many attacks against authorities. They were also active in Iranian Kurdistan.

The group is considered to be relatively small, but it has camps in the Iranian Kurdish towns of Mariwan and Sanandaj.

In April 2014, the Kurdistan Brigades released a statement where they criticised the Islamic State and called on Kurds to not join it.

Attacks
The group has launched several attacks, including its largest one being against KRG's Ministry of Interior in Erbil that killed 19 people in May 2007. AQKB killed 7 border guards and one PUK security officer in Penjwan in July 2007. In September 2010, two police officers were hurt by a failed suicide attack in Sulaymaniyah.