The Crescent Jihad Faction are a faction of Iraqi insurgents. They were responsible for taking Derrick and his crew hostage, then decapitating all of the crew except for Derrick, who was rescued by his unit before he could be executed.
At some point, a member of the Faction, Ahmed Karzaii, was captured by the CIA. A month after the Original Outbreak of the Rage Virus in mainland Britain, Karzaii was moved to a research facility on the Isle of Wight, where he was exposed to the Rage Virus as an experiment.