Attack claim is latest from feared group

The Army of Ansar al-Sunnah, which claimed to be behind yesterday's deadly rocket attack on a US-Iraqi base near Mosul, is one of the most feared extremist groups operating in Iraq, having taken responsibility for several major attacks and the killings of foreign hostages.

The group's members are thought to be fundamentalist Muslims whose goal is to turn Iraq into a tightly controlled Islamic state like the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

It first appeared with a claim that it staged dual suicide bombings at the offices of two Kurdish political parties that killed 109 people on Feb. 1. Some specialists believed that the group was an offshoot of Ansar al-Islam, a militant group operating in Iraq's Kurdish north.

In a statement issued last month, Ansar al-Sunnah said it had begun working with two other terrorist groups: Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the Islamic Army in Iraq.

Some actions by Ansar al-Sunnah in recent months:

 Dec. 5: Claims responsibility for machine gun attack in Tikrit that kills 17 Iraqi civilians employed by US military.

 Dec. 1: Claims to have abducted and killed three Iraqis working for US Marines.

 Nov. 25: Claims responsibility for rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone that kills four Nepalese security guards and 12 others.

 Nov. 20: Posts video on Internet showing fatal shooting of two hostages identified as members of Kurdish political group in Mosul.

 Nov. 4: Puts video on Internet showing beheading of man it says was Iraqi army major captured in Mosul.