Suspected Terror Training Camps Surface in Iraq

Evidence has emerged over the past six months revealing the existence of Al-Qaida-style terrorist training camps at unidentified locations inside Iraq run by suspected local disciples of Usama Bin Laden, such as the Ansar al-Sunnah Army and the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI).  The camps feature primarily courses in basic combat and urban warfare tactics, similar to those formerly taught at Al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan—including Sadda, Al-Farooq, and Khalden.  The same Iraqi militant groups responsible for organizing these terrorist training camps have also released video footage detailing the production of improvised explosives and rockets, and the use of mobile shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles targeting non-combat aircraft.

Click to view photos c/o Globalterroralert.com

*UPDATE*: (hat tip to Andrew Cochran) This from the Pentagon... "Members of Iraq's 1st Police Commando Battalion today discovered and attacked an apparent insurgent training facility in southwestern Salah Ad Din province... The officers received both indirect and direct fire from the facility as they approached near Lake Tharthar... An early assessment of the site indicates a facility for training insurgents, a Multinational Force Iraq statement said, adding that documentation at the facility indicates that some were foreign fighters."