Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

QA’EDA IN IRAQ, AL • 567AQI was its targeting of Iraqi Shi’ites with the aim of overturning theemerging post-Saddam Iraqi government by attempting to incite civilwar between Iraqi Sunnis and Shi’ites.Some of the more noteworthy AQI attacks include the following:The AQI is believed to have been behind the 19 August 2003 suicidebombing of United Nations offices in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad,which killed 23 people, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the topUN envoy to Iraq. On 19 August 2005 the AQI fired Katyusha rocketsagainst the USS Kearsarge and the USS Ashland docked in theJordanian port of Aqaba, as well as into the neighboring city of Eilatin Israel, but failed to hit either naval vessel. On 9 November 2005,three AQI suicide bombers struck the Grand Hyatt, Radisson, andDays Inn hotels in Amman, Jordan, killing 60 victims and injuring115 more. On 22 February 2006 AQI agents disguised as Iraqi securityforces bombed the al Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, a majorShi’ite shrine holding the tombs of the Tenth and Eleventh Imamsof the Twelve-Imam Shi’ite sect of Islam, destroying the shrine’sgolden dome and severely damaging three-quarters of the remainingstructure. Although this bombing caused no direct deaths or injuries,it incited sectarian attacks of Shi’ites upon Sunni individuals andmosques, resulting in Sunni retaliatory killings of Shi’ites and attacksupon Shi’ite mosques. On 13 June 2007 the al Askari Mosquewas bombed once more by the AQI, resulting in the destruction ofthe two main minarets of the mosque. Again, although the bombingcaused no direct deaths or injuries, the incident led to renewedSunni-Shi’ite killings and attacks. The AQI has also bombed manyShi’ite mosques throughout Iraq, attempted an assassination on 23March 2007 of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam al Zaubai, andcarried out the 12 April 2007 suicide bombing of the Iraqi parliamentbuilding that killed eight, including three legislators. The AQI hasalso assassinated several Sunni tribal leaders who had begun to alignthemselves with U.S.-led forces against the AQI, as well as their familymembers, in al Anbar Province.Since late 2007 the influence of the AQI has been in serious declinenot simply due to the reported surge of U.S. forces but alsoarguably due to the group’s own tactical and strategic errors. First,although the AQI succeeded in inciting the desired Sunni-Shi’ite sectarianstrife, the AQI proved unwilling or simply unable to provideany effective protection to the many Sunni civilians who were now