The Army for the Liberation of Kurdistan was a Kurdish organization seeking the establishment of an autonomous state of Kurdistan. It is unclear whether or not the organization actually existed. Kurdistan is a region composed of territory from Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Estimated at about 30 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world. <p><br />In its history, the organization has only been associated with one attack, a bombing that completely demolished the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in 1981. Sixty-one fatalities and over one hundred injuries were reported. One report indicated that the explosion was the result of a car bomb. Two other groups, the Iraqi Liberation Army-General Command and al-Dawa ("the call"), claimed responsibility for the attack and based on available evidence, it is unlikely that the Army for the Liberation of Kurdistan conducted the attack. There was no further mention of the Iraqi Liberation Army-General Command prior to or after it claimed responsibility for the bombing. Al-Dawa was a fundamentalist Shia terrorist organization backed by Iran and dedicated to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government. In 1980, al-Dawa was outlawed in Iraq. Given its capabilities, established alliance with Iran, and other known terrorist attacks on Iraqi targets during this time period, it is more likely that al-Dawa conducted the bombing at the Iraqi embassy. It is possible that an individual purportedly with the Army for the Liberation of Kurdistan claimed the attack in order to generate publicity for the Kurdish cause or simply to provide legitimacy to a fledgling group or the fight for Kurdish independence. <p><br />Given the group's name and information divulged in their claim of responsibility, it appears that the Army for the Liberation of Kurdistan fought to establish an independent Kurdish state. Because the target of their only alleged attack was the Iraqi embassy, it is possible the group sought to liberate the portion of Kurdistan that is considered sovereign Iraqi territory.