Juba (sniper)

Juba
Allegiance	Islamic Army in Iraq

Juba (Arabic: جوبا‎‎) (a.k.a. "Joba") is the pseudonym of an alleged sniper involved in the Iraq War's insurgency, featured in several videos. The second of these videos shows Juba claiming to have shot 37 American soldiers.^[1] Whether Juba is a real individual, a role shared among multiple individuals, or a propaganda/media creation is unknown.

Videos

Several video clips which allegedly show the actions of Juba have been circulated over the Internet.

First video

In November 2005, a video which was circulating in Iraq appeared on the Internet.^[2] The video, attributed to the Sunni insurgent group Islamic Army in Iraq, showed American soldiers being shot and falling to the ground. The video starts with a man saying, "I have nine bullets in this gun and I have a present for George Bush. I am going to kill nine Soldiers. I am doing this for the viewers to watch. God is great. God is great." With that, he makes his way from the vehicle, and a series of separate scenes follow showing several individuals shot in action.

Second video

A second "Juba" video was distributed in 2006 in western Baghdad and released on the Internet in late October 2006. The video contained an interview with the supposed commander of the Baghdad sniper division, footage shows numerous fighters being trained in the use of sniper rifles. The video discusses the alleged fear generated in coalition forces by insurgency snipers, and shows "Juba" returning from a sniping mission, marking a tally of 37 on a wall. The sniper then sits down to make a diary entry. The video claims that there are dozens of snipers operating within the IAI and other factions, and shows more being trained. The rest of the video shows numerous clips of U.S. soldiers being sniped with nasheed music in the background, and an insurgent commander explaining that his men are inspired and trained to an extent based on the information in the book The Ultimate Sniper by retired Major and U.S. Army sniper John Plaster.

Third and fourth videos

In December 2007, "Juba - The Baghdad Sniper 3" was released on the Internet. The production quality of the video was improved from Islamic Army's previous releases; the video was made available in nine languages. This video also makes reference to a website that is supposedly connected to the Juba character.^[3] In 2008, "Juba - The Baghdad Sniper 4" was released on the Internet and on the same website.

See Also

• Colonel Tomb
• Erwin König

References

External links

News reports

• Carroll, Rory (2005). Elusive sniper saps U.S. morale in Baghdad, The Guardian, August 5, 2005
• Juba the Sniper Legend haunting troops in Iraq, Stars and Stripes, April 22, 2007