During the Iran–Iraq War, Sheikh Osman Abdulaziz, leader of the IMK, called for an independent Kurdish nation, as well as declaring a holy war against Iraq and against Ba'athism, which led independent Kurdish Islamists, Kurdish Islamist organizations, and even Peshmerga soldiers who had Islamist leanings, to form a type of united front.

Many Kurdish Islamists set up training camps in the mountains of Kurdistan, recruited people, and began rebelling against Iraq.

[1][2] The IMK also sent delegations of Kurds to visit Osama bin Laden, in which they told him about the atrocities that Saddam Hussein was committing in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The united mujahideen ended after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, although the groups remained.

[6][7] Osman Abdulaziz and Adham Barzani had hosted Hüseyin Velioğlu and his soldiers in Iraqi Kurdistan to train for an offensive against Turkey.