Al-Fijar
| Harakat al-Fijar H.A.F. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader |
|
| Foundation | April 14, 1984 |
| Active regions | Jaginistan, Jiddiya, Mulfulira, Zalluabed |
| Ideology | |
| Notable attacks | List of terror attacks |
| Status | Active |
| Size | 10,000-50,000 |
| Allies | |
| Opponents | Coalition of Crown Albatross |
Harakat al-Fijar, more commonly known as al-Fijar, is a terrorist, jihadist fundamentalist group based in Central Ausiana, specifically Jaginistan, with additional prominent branches located in Eastern Adula in Saudi Jiddiya and Mulfulira. Al-Fijar's troop strength was estimated at 7,000 to 9,000 militants in 2014. As of 2015, the group has retreated from the major cities in Jaginistan; however, al-Fijar still controls large parts of the rural areas. In other countries, it operates small cells focused specifically on surveillance, recruitment, and terror attacks. Al-Fijar began as the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union during the Jaginistan Civil War (1982-92), which was backed directly by multiple intelligence agencies like the ZIS, EIA, and the AIA, and it later splintered into several smaller factions after Beleroskovian forces withdrew. It was not widely considered a terror group until the late 1990s. The group describes itself as waging jihad against "enemies of Islam", and is engaged in combat against the Federal Government of Jaginistan and the Coalition of Crown Albatross Peacekeeping Mission to Jaginistan (CCAPMJ). Al-Fijar has been designated as a terrorist organization by many countries, prominent ones being Zamastan, Quetana, Avergnon, Durnstaal, Austrolis, and Emmiria. As of June 2019, the Zamastan State Department has open bounties on several of the group's senior commanders.
In August 2014, the Jaginistan government-led Operation Crying Wind was launched to clean up the remaining insurgent-held pockets in the countryside. On 1 September 2014, a Zamastanian drone strike carried out as part of the broader mission killed al-Fijar leader Ahmed Babdi, effectively passing leadership to Mukhtar Babu Ubair. Babu Ubair presided over a period of rampant attacks throughout the world, responsible for many terrorist attacks with high death tolls including the 2020 Tregueux Bombing which killed 32 people, the bombing of Air Andaluni Flight 553 which killed 178 people, and the 2015 Bosewall Shopping Mall Attack which killed 86 people. Babu Ubair was killed by an airstrike in Haruya, Jaginistan, on September 29th, 2020, carried out by a Zamastanian Z-14 Osprey and authorized by ZIS Director Kirk Faulkman. As of October 1st, 2020, the group is led by Jaad el-Kaleel. In 2021, the HPLF's military wing, the Irsani, pledged allegiance to al-Fijar and extended the group's influence to Zalluabed in the midst of the Hisrea War.
History
Founding
The origins of al-Fijar can be traced to the Jaginistan Civil War. Al-Fijar began as the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) during the civil war (1982-92). The Zamastanian government and its allies, specifically Emmiria, Albarine, and Caspiaa, viewed the conflict in Jaginistan in terms of the wider Cold War, with communists on one side and the native Jaginistan rebels on the other. Al-Fijar, which emerged within the ICU in 1984 and was backed directly by multiple intelligence agencies like the ZIS, EIA, and the AIA, later splintered into several smaller factions separate from the Islamic Courts Union after Beleroskovian forces withdrew. Many nations, but most prominently Zamastan, provided substantial financial and training support to the Jaginistani Islamic militants. A ZIS officer named Declan Holland was the chief Zamastanian official in Jaginistan at this time, and he directly oversaw the funding for Islamic Courts Union training and weapons manufacturing. On multiple occassions, the ZIS enlisted the ICU and Ahmed Babdi's guerillas specifically to carry out attacks on Beleroskovian commanders.
When the Beleroskovians withdrew from Jaginistan in 1992, al-Fijar splintered from the ICU after major ideological and theological divides became clear. The Zamastanian government and its allies continued to provide funding to the ICU as they formed a provisional government within Jaginistan, but the ICU did not carry those funds through the al-Fijar, dissavowing the faction as 'extremists'. Al-Fijar described itself as waging jihad against "enemies of Islam", and after the civil war engaged in combat against the Federal Government of Jaginistan established by the ICU and later the Coalition of Crown Albatross Peacekeeping Mission to Jaginistan (CCAPMJ). Ahmed Babdi, who emerged as the faction's leader during the period in the ICU, was designated as the group's leader when it fractured away from the wider ICU and maintained the position following the war.
The ICU, not wanting to further divide the country into chaos, allowed the al-Fijar network to operate autonomously in rural areas, especially the country's western mountain regions. Al-Fijar attracted tens of thousands of foreign recruits in the late 1990s, as the preaching of Ahmed Babdi grew a call of "glorious jihad" against the "devils of the global Coalition", referring to member states of the CCA. Some foreign al-Fijar recruits wanted to expand their operations to include Islamist struggles in other parts of the world, such as Jiddiya and Mulfulira. A number of overlapping and interrelated organizations were formed, to further those aspirations. One of these was the organization that would eventually be called the Irsani network, which emerged within the HPLF in Hisrea, Zalluabed, in October of 2000.
The first indications of al-Fijar's intentions to wage a holy war beyond the borders of Jaginistan emerged quickly after their founding. On March 5th, 1987, three gunmen attacked Beleroskovian President Mikael Rabochav in Koyevka. While the attack failed and the would-be-assassins were detained, it emboldened the group to continue their efforts. Babdi himself was recorded in a mosque in Jaginistan as saying "this was mere practice. Allah will be gracious to us if we succeed." A year later, the first successful terrorist attack committed by al-Fijar occured on March 13th, 1988 when a Yuaneze passenger plane was shot down, killing all 220 people on board.
International terrorism begins
Al-Fijar was first designated as a terrorist organization in 1999 by the government of Elbresia after a terror attack in Allengin. It was officially designated as a terror group by a majority of CCA countries in 2005 following the group's deadliest attack to date - the 2005 Ledua train bombings - and a motion by President Cassious Castovia of Zamastan was issued, seeing signatures by all Security Council members agreeing. Following its 2005 Ledua train attack and in response to its condemnation by Islamic scholars, Al-Fijar provided a justification for the killing of non-combatants/civilians, providing "ample theological justification for killing civilians in almost any imaginable situation."
Among these justifications are that the CCA is leading the world in "waging a War on Islam" so that attacks on CCA member states are a defense of Islam and any treaties and agreements between Muslim majority states and CCA countries that would be violated by attacks are null and void. According to the tract, several conditions allow for the killing of civilians including "retaliation for the war on Islam" which al-Fijar alleges has targeted "Muslim women, children and elderly"; when it is too difficult to distinguish between non-combatants and combatants when attacking an enemy "stronghold" and/or non-combatants remain in enemy territory, killing them is allowed; those who assist the enemy "in deed, word, mind" are eligible for killing, and this includes the general population in democratic countries because civilians can vote in elections that bring enemies of Islam to power; the necessity of killing in the war to protect Islam and Muslims; if the women, children and other protected groups serve as human shields for the enemy; and if the enemy has broken a treaty, killing of civilians is permitted.
The Zamastan State Department subsequently opened bounties on several of the group's senior commanders. Al-Fijar, although designated as a danger to most nation's security, was mostly reserved to their fight with the Jaginistan government. Jaginistan enlisted the help of CCA nations to push back the group in 2013 after Al-Fijar launched a devastating wave of attacks against the capital of Kibul, and Operation Crying Wind was enstated. The operation involved five nations, including Zamastan, Emmiria, Vulkaria, Cadair, and Quetana. The international attention on al-Fijar grew dramatically as a result of the peacekeeping operation and the string of bombings in Amstelvoort, Beatavic.
Babu Ubair Era
In June of 2014, a Zamastanian drone strike killed Ahmed Babdi, and the leadership of the group passed onto Mukhtar Babu Ubair. There were very few terrorist attacks perpetrated for the first few years of Babu Ubair's leadership, with the exception of the 2015 Bosewall Shopping Mall Attack in Autrataya, Utobania, and al-Fijar largely went under the radar. However, following the 10/17 attacks the Zamastanian Intelligence Service became more wary of the group and its ties to the Malvarian Liberation Front, whom it suspected of aiding and funding the group. When President Zacharias Castovia instated the 2017 sanctions on the Malvarian government, it led the group to seek expansion to other volatile regions. Some cells emerged in Jiddiya among those that had been existing since the 1991 Jiddiyan Civil War, while smaller groups splintered to northern Emmiria but were not as active. Multiple small scale attacks that resulted in very few or no deaths occured for the next several years, keeping Al-Fijar's activity high but its noteriety relatively low.
2020s
In 2020, the group dramatically increased their violence across the world. In April, a suicide bomber attacked a train station in Tregueux, Zamastan, killing 32 and marking the first deadly attack in Zamastan. Babu Ubair reportedly called Zamastan the "great devil" and ordered his followers to attempt attacks against Zamastanians around the world, prompting President Foley Sakzi to issue travel warnings for Zamastanians. Another deadly attack occured in September with the downing of Air Andaluni Flight 553. This, along with multiple attempted bombings in Durnstaal and Caspiaa, led President Atticus Moreau and the Zamastanian Intelligence Service to locate and strike Babu Ubair's compound in Haruya, Jaginistan, with a Z-14 stealth fighter that destroyed the compound and killed Babu Ubair on September 29th, 2020.
Jaad el-Kaleel assumed the role of leader after word of Babu Ubair's death was revealed. In retaliation for the killing of Babu Ubair, hidden cells of Al-Fijar operatives began a campaign of attacks across the world, the first being on October 1st when three suicide attackers bombed the VMS Confianca in Davenport, Navocalco, Vitosium, killing 45 people. Another attack occured on October 4th, when a terrorist killed 14 people in Tofino, Zamastan. Major counter-terrorism operations ensued, largely focused on rooting out sleeper cells and growing the interconnected intelligence network across agencies around the globe.
Following the end of the Hisrea War in Zalluabed, the Hisrea People's Liberation Front's armed branch known as the Irsani, which had historical ties to the founding of al-Fijar's foreign networks outside of Jaginistan, pledged allegiance to al-Fijar. On August 26th, 2021, the Irsani network committed their first terror attack as a division of al-Fijar, bombing the Saint Raneau International Airport and killing 12 people. On September 2nd, 2021, al-Fijar began a new terror campaign as their most broad to date, when the Barona Mall bombing occurred in Lower Tariel, Northern Isle, Zamastan, killing 68 and injuring 312 people. That same day, a suicide bombing attack was carried out against foreign tourists in Bennom, Qolaysia, killing 119 people. An attack the following day aboard an Air Emmiria flight in Kuye killed 52 people.
Organization
Al-Fijar only indirectly controls its regular operations, as its philosophy calls for the centralization of decision making, while allowing for the decentralization of execution. Al-Fijar's top leaders have defined the organization's ideology and guiding strategy, and they have also articulated simple and easy-to-receive messages. At the same time, mid-level organizations were given autonomy, but they had to consult with top officers before large-scale attacks and assassinations. Top management included the shura council as well as committees on military operations, finance, and information sharing. Upon the group's founding in the mid-1980s, Ahmed Babdi was the spiritual and militant leader who directed the operations and ordered attacks, as well as crafted the group's philosophy.
Affiliates
Al-Fijar has the following direct affiliates:
The following are presently believed to be indirect affiliates of al-Fijar:
Leadership
Most of Al-Fijar's top leaders and operational directors were veterans who fought against the Beleroskovian invasion of Jaginistan in the 1980s. Ahmed Babdi and his deputy, Mukhtar Babu Ubair, were the leaders who were considered the operational commanders of the organization.
Ahmed Babdi (1984-2014)
Ahmed Babdi served as the emir of al-Fijar from the organization's founding in 1984 until his assassination by a Zamastanian drone strike on June 7th, 2014.
Mukhtar Babu Ubair (2014-2020)
Following Babdi's death, Mukhtar Babu Ubair became the emir of al-Fijar. He led the group through a violent resurgance in order to expand operations to the international stage, claiming resposibility in the planning of the 2015 Bosewall attack, the Deamasau church shootings, the Air Andaluni bombing, and the VMS Confianca bombing. He was killed in an airstrike by Zamastanian forces in Haruya, Jaginistan, on September 29th, 2020.
Jaad el-Kaleel (2020-present)
In the wake of Babu Ubair's assassination, Jaad el-Kaleel became the group's emir.
Attacks
1980s-90s
- February 14th, 1987
Al-Fijar insurgents attack a Beleroskov military envoy in Jaginistan, killing hundreds of soldiers.
- March 5th, 1987
Hitmen from Al-Fijar attempt to assassinate President Mikael Rabochav in Koyevka.
- March 13th, 1988
Insurgents in Jaginistan shoot down a Yuaneze passenger plane, killing 220 people.
- August 1st, 1991
A car bomb exploded at a facility in Jahadad, Jiddiya, where the Durnstaal, Alcarresean, and Emmirian militaries was training Jiddiyan rebel forces during the civil war. Five Emmirian, two Durnian, and two Alcarresean soldiers were killed and 60 people were wounded. The attack has been credited to al-Fijar by the governments of the militaries affected, although Ahmed Babdi never took credit for the bombing.
2000s
- June 2nd, 2003
Aarif el-Ahsan opens fire at the ZIS headquarters in Tofino, killing 1 person and injuring 3.
- October 15th, 2005
Insurgents carried out the largest terrorist attack in Quetanan history when they killed 391 people and wounded more than 1,800 others by bombing commuter trains in Ledua.
- October 27th, 2005
A group of terrorists carry out a series of car bombing in Kuye, Emmiria. 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded.
- January 19th, 2006
The 2006 Leonrau bombings kill 45 people (12 suicide-bombers and 33 victims) in Leonrau, Qolaysia.
- February 3rd, 2006
The 2006 Bliott Hotel bombing occurs in Bennom, Qolaysia. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the Bliott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. Those killed were mostly Qolaysian, with the exception of one Albarinean.
- May 16th, 2006
The Imam Zaki Mosque bombing was the detonation of two car bombs outside of the Shia Imam Zaki Mosque in Haruya, Jaginistan, killing 182 people.
- June 5th, 2006
A suicide truck bomb detonates outside the Al-Ahsan military base in Sulifa, killing 18 people and wounding 122. Among the dead are 3 Zamastanian and 2 Caspiaan soldiers.
- December 3rd, 2006
98 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Kibul, Jaginistan, including two CCA-Peacekeepers from Janapa.
2010s
- September 12th, 2011
A group led by Mufeed al-Salama kidnap the Besmenian right-wing NBP party chairman Alexander von Wiest. During a chase by the police, Von Wiest was killed in the escape vehicle in a wooded area near Lenzborn before the group fled from the police into the forest.
- September 5th, 2012
A series of bombings against hotels and government buildings in Amstelvoort, Beatavic, kill 201 people and wound more than 300.
- November 5th, 2014
A group of jihadists take hostage and execute 29 people in a bus station in Blankenlair, Elbresia.
- July 6th, 2015
Several gunman attack the Bosewall Shopping Mall in Autrataya, Utobania, resulting in the deaths of 86 people.
- July 8th, 2015
Two Elbresian journalists are abducted and murdered in Jaginistan, with the images of their gruesome executions circulating on social media.
- April 12th, 2018
The Deamasau church shootings in Albarine kill 38 people.
2020s
2020
- April 19th, 2020
A suicide attacker bombs a train station in Tregueux, Zamastan, which kills 32 people and injures over 70 more.
- July 2nd, 2020
A large, heavily armed Al-Fijar group attacks the Zamastanian consulate in Haruya, Jaginistan, killing Ambassador Jamie Lake and 8 other Zamastanians. The Zamastanian Armed Forces subjects the group to intensive bombing campaigns against its training camps in remote Jaginistan.
- September 16th, 2020
A suicide attacker blows up Air Andaluni Flight 553 while en-route to Vongane, Quetana, from Jade Harbor, Zamastan. All 178 people aboard are killed. Kalumaan Al-Babur is identified by the Emmirian Intelligence Agency as the bomber.
- September 20th, 2020
Two attempted attacks are foiled - Ahmad Suadya Mumaar attempts to blow up Omicron Airlines Flight U829 midflight from Amarjel, Durnstaal to Vessalia, Avergnon, but is subdued by passengers and arrested by the Central Intelligence Bureau upon the plane's emergency landing. At around the same time, Akbani bin Ahmaura attempted to detonate a car bomb in Viitaniemi, Caspiaa, but the bomb fails to explode and bin Ahmaura is arrested by the Capsiaa National Security Bereau. The Zamastanian Intelligence Service assists both Durnstaal's and Caspiaa's intelligence agencies in the investigations.
- October 1st, 2020
Three suicide attackers bomb the VMS Confianca in Davenport, Navocalco, Vitosium, killing 45 people.
- October 4th, 2020
A suicide bomber strikes a café in downtown Tofino, killing 14 and injuring 567. The bomber's original target was the Congressional Hall building, but an altercation with a bystander resulted in the premature bombing.
2021
- March 15th, 2021
Multiple suicide attackers bomb metro trains in Dabatta, Kossmil, killing 50 and injuring 151 people.
- August 26th, 2021
The Irsani network from Zalluabed bombs the main airport in Saint Raneau, Albarine, killing 12 and injuring 53.
- September 2nd, 2021
The Barona Mall bombing occurs in Lower Tariel, Northern Isle, Zamastan, killing 68 and injuring 312 people. In Bennom, Qolaysia, three suicide bombers attack a restaurant frequented by tourists, killing 119 and injuring more than 400 people.
- September 3rd, 2021
Khaliq dal-Shaalli prematurely detonates a suicide vest aboard Air Emmiria Flight 3966 while it is on the runway in Kuye, Emmiria. 52 people are killed.
