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Note: Iraq and Syria contain large desert areas with sparse populations. These areas are mapped as under the control of forces holding roads and towns within them.
The Islamic State (IS), (Arabic: الدولة الإسلامية, romanized:ad-Dawla al-Islāmiyya) also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a SunniIslamist militant group and unrecognized former quasi-state. It seeks to establish a global caliphate ruled by what it sees as Sharia law. In Arabic, it is often called Daesh, a term disliked by the group. It operates in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and a small part of northern Iraq. It claimed the status of an independent state for the territories under its control in Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Syria from 2014 to 2019. It follows the Salafi ideology and is opposed to Shiism and has been described as "Shiaphobic".
The earliest evolution of the group traces its origins back to the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group which was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 1999. This group eventually grew and became a large network in the early years of the Iraq War and associated itself with al-Qaeda in 2004. In 2006, the group formed into the Mujahideen Shura Council which was an umbrella organization that was composed of different insurgent groups. On 15 October 2006, the group rebranded itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and appointed Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as its emir. Its aim was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni majority regions of Iraq, later expanding this to include Syria. In February 2014, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with ISIL.
Fighting
At the height of the Iraq War, ISIL was in the Iraqi provinces of Al Anbar, Ninawa, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil, Diyala and Baghdad. Back then, it was known as al-Qaeda in Iraq and later the Islamic State of Iraq. It claimed Baqubah as its capital. In the Syrian Civil War, the group has a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib and Aleppo.
The group has attacked government and military targets. It has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed thousands of Iraqi civilians. During the time coalition forces were present in Iraq, the group suffered some setbacks. By 2012, it was thought to have regained most of its strength due to the ongoing conflict in Syria and more than doubled the number of its members to about 2,500. Following a 2013-2014 military offensive, ISIL took over large parts of Al Anbar Province including the city of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.
In 2013, a letter and an audio recording of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was leaked to Al Jazeera. In it, al-Zawahiri disbanded the Syrian faction of ISIL. The group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, opposed this ruling on the basis of Islamic law. The group has since continued to operate in Syria. Starting in April 2013, it made rapid military gains in large parts of Northern Syria, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described them as "the strongest group". They have sought publicity by releasing videos of the decapitation (beheading) of journalists and other prisoners of war mainly done by member Jihadi John. He was killed in November 2015.
Worldwide caliphate
In June 2014, it announced a worldwide caliphate. In 2014, ISIL successfully fought in a large-scale offensive in Iraq. After this offensive, ISIL is reported to have seized control of most of Mosul, the second biggest city in Iraq, its surrounding Nineveh province, and the city of Fallujah. It proceeded to persecute non-Sunni minorities such as Shia Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis. Its actions against the Yazidi people was deemed to be a genocide by the international community. In the spring of 2015 ISIL fought for control of Tikrit, the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.
In spring of 2016 the Army of Iraq took back Fallujah. At the end of 2016 the army took back Ramadi in Al Anbar Province, and in July 2017 Iraqi government forces retook Mosul. In October 2017, Raqqa, the capital, fell to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
