Ansar al-Islam (Arabic: أنصار الإسلام‎ Anṣār al-Islām) or Ansar al-Islam fi Kurdistan (Arabic: أنصار الإسلام في كردستان‎ Anṣār al-Islām fī Kurdistān), also referred to as AAI, is a Sunni Muslim insurgent group in Iraq and Syria. It was established in northern Iraq by former al-Qaeda members in 2001 as a Salafist Islamist movement that imposed a strict application of Sharia in villages it controlled around Biyara to the northeast of Halabja, near the Iranian border. Its ideology follows a literal interpretation of the Quran and promotes a return to what it claims is the example of the first Muslims (Salaf). Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the group became an insurgent group which fought against the Kurdish government, American led forces and their Iraqi allies. The group continued to f