Country Reports on Terrorism 2014 - Foreign Terrorist Organizations: Abdallah Azzam Brigades

aka Abdullah Azzam Brigades; Ziyad al-Jarrah Battalions of the Abdallah Azzam Brigades; Yusuf al-'Uyayri Battalions of the Abdallah Azzam Brigades

Description: The Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB) was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on May 30, 2012. AAB formally announced its establishment in a July 2009 video statement claiming responsibility for a February 2009 rocket attack against Israel. The group is divided into two branches: the Arabian Peninsula-based Yusuf al-'Uyayri Battalions of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, named after the now-deceased founder of al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula; and the Lebanon-based Ziyad al-Jarrah Battalions of the Abdallah Azzam Brigades, named after Ziad al Jarrah, a Lebanese citizen who was one of the planners of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Activities: AAB has relied primarily on rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, and is responsible for numerous rocket attacks fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon. These attacks in Israel have targeted population centers, including Nahariya and Ashkelon. In addition to rocket attacks, AAB carried out a July 2010 suicide bombing attack against the Japanese-owned oil tanker M/V M. Star in the Strait of Hormuz.

In November 2013, AAB began to target Hizballah. It claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 23 people and wounded over 140, and warned that the group would carry out more attacks unless Hizballah stops sending fighters to support Syrian government forces.

In February 2014, a twin suicide bomb attack targeting the Iranian cultural center in Beirut killed four people; AAB claimed responsibility for the attack and said that it had carried out the bombings as retaliation for Hizballah's involvement in the Syrian conflict. AAB is also believed to have been responsible for a series of bombings in Hizballah-controlled areas around Beirut. A June suicide bombing at a police checkpoint on the Beirut-Damascus highway targeted Lebanese General Security head Major General Abbas Ibrahim, who narrowly escaped. Also in June, a suicide bombing in the Beirut neighborhood of Tayyouneh killed a security officer and wounded 25 people.

In July, AAB briefly turned its attention back towards Israel, firing a series of rockets into northern Israel in response to Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

Strength: Unknown

Location/Area of Operation: AAB is based in Lebanon and operates in Lebanon and Syria.

Funding and External Aid: Unknown