Jihad Pegah is a terrorist organization operating in northern Iraq. In Kurdish, the organization's name means 'jihad base.' The organization is believed to be a Kurdistani brigade linked to al-Qaeda (al-Qaeda also means the base in Arabic). Kurdish Islamists, while hoping to establish an independent state for Kurds, seek the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq and Kurdistan. In its first and only known attack, members of Jihad Pegah targeted the Ministry of Peshmerga (Kurdish Security personnel) and a senior official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party (PUK) in three suicide car bombings on October 25, 2005 in Sulaimaniyah, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq.  Initially, the attack was claimed by the al-Qaeda Organization in the Land of the Two Rivers although it is unknown whether the groups coordinated the attack together. The suicide bombers were initially reported to be Arabs although this information has not been confirmed. In any case, there is a strong possibility the Arabs were guided by Kurds. <p><br />Although Jihad Pegah did not state any motivations or political aims behind these attacks, several inferences can be made as to the group's intentions. The Ministry of Peshmerga may have been targeted as a result of its role in counterinsurgency operations, policing actions in northern regions, and its known alliance with US forces (such as during the successful joint operation directed at driving out radical Islamists from northern Kurdistan in March 2003). <p><br />Officials of the PUK may have been targeted as they are viewed as US/Western allies, having assisted in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, the PUK and Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) share power in a secular, democratically elected government in autonomous Kurdistan (Islamists want an Islamic state). The two secular parties are often criticized by their opponents for monopolizing power in Kurdistan. Lastly, as an armed group, the PUK clashed frequently with radical Islamist forces (members of Ansar al-Islam, another Kurdish Islamist group for example) as the forces were based in PUK-controlled areas of northern Iraq. <p><br />Kurds in general have been targets of al-Qaeda linked terrorist groups and other radical Islamists because the majority of the population rejects radical Sunni ideology. In addition, Kurds play a large role in the current Iraqi government. In fact, current Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, was the leader of the PUK until he became the first democratically elected president of Iraq. As a terrorist organization, Jihad Pegah is suspected of having links with al-Qaeda and potentially other radical Kurdish Islamic groups such as Ansar al-Islam. <br />