Jaish al-Taifa al-Mansoura (Army of the Victorious Community or the Victorious Sect Army) is a Sunni Islamist terrorist group in Iraq. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on civilian and coalition targets, as well as two high-profile mortar attacks. Jaish al-Taifa al-Mansoura has also been reported to have links with several al-Qaeda outfits. <P><br />The group was allegedly founded in May 2003, most likely as an offshoot of the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army, a vicious Jihadist group, dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq. Jaish al-Taifa al-Mansoura has publicly identified their leader as al-Haj Uthman al-Iraqi, but nothing further is known about his past history and affiliations. <P><br />The group first made headlines in May 2004, when it claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Russian energy workers. Although one additional Russian worker was killed in the attack, the two hostages were freed unharmed after a week. In August 2005, the group claimed responsibility for a mortar attack on the Imam Kadhim Mosque during a massive Shia pilgrimage. The attack itself killed several people and wounded dozens, but its aftermath was much deadlier. Soon after the mortars hit their targets, rumors spread amongst the pilgrims that suicide bombers were poised to attack the huge crowd. Panic gripped the pilgrims, and an ensuing stampede left nearly 1,000 people dead. In an unverified statement the group claimed responsibility for the attack saying it was "to punish the genocides committed against Sunnis." Several weeks later the group fired several mortars at the so-called "Green Zone" in Baghdad which contains numerous Iraqi and foreign government buildings. In their statement of claim, the group provocatively announced that the mortars contained chemical weapons. This statement was never verified, and the mortar attacks caused no casualties. <P><br />In addition to numerous other attacks, the group has "declared" war on the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni political party that supported the passage of the Iraqi constitution. This is a somewhat odd declaration from a group supposedly linked with al-Qaeda. Strict Islamic militant outfits generally eschew politics completely, and would be opposed to political parties whether or not they supported the constitution. In any case, the group singled out both the party, and its leadership (Muhsin Abdul Hamid, the head of the party, and Tariq al-Hashemi, its General Secretary) for attacks. <P><br />Although the group is often reported to have links with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Jihad network and the greater al-Qaeda organization, nothing concrete is known about these links. It is clear from Jaish's attacks on Shia targets that they do share a common ideology with al-Qaeda, but it is not known whether the group receives operational and financial support from the Bin Laden network. <P><br />To that end, in January 2006, Jaish was one of six groups (including al-Qaeda) to join the umbrella organization Mujahideen Shura Council.  The formation of the Council was undertaken to help unify Iraqi insurgent efforts.  This accession confirmed Jaish's ideological links with al-Qaeda, but it is still unclear what the actual level of operational cooperation is between Jaish and the other factions of the Council.   <br /><br />