"Kurdistan Brigades" Pledges Allegiance to Al Qaeda-led Group

Al Qaeda-led Islamist State of Iraq released a new video showing training by what the group identified as "The Kurdistan Brigades" in northern Iraq.

The 30-minute video starts with the military commander of the team reading a communiqué in which he declares his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq under the leadership of Abu Omar al Baghdadi. "We are your brothers in the Kurdistan Brigades and we pledge our allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq," said the man on the tape. "To the two Kurdish puppets, Jalal Talabani and Masud Barzani, I swear by God that we have no mercy or sympathy towards the traitors who sold themselves to the enemies of God. Your throats will be slit," he added.

The clip also shows the operatives undertaking various combat training such as the art of assassination, evacuating the injured and preparing roadside bombs.