Islamic State

The Islamic State (IS),[147] also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; /ˈaɪsɪl/), Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS; /ˈaɪsɪs/),[148][149] and by its Arabic acronym Da'ish[150][151] or Daesh (داعش, Dāʿish, IPA: [ˈdaːʕɪʃ]),[152] is a transnational militant Islamist terrorist group and former unrecognized quasi-state that follows the Salafi jihadist branch of Sunni Islam.[153] It was founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 1999 and gained global prominence in 2014, when it captured a large amount of Iraqi territory,[154][155][156] and took advantage of the civil war in Syria to take control of chunks of territory in Eastern Syria.[157][158][159] By the end of 2015, it held an area estimated to contain eight to twelve million people stretching from western Iraq to eastern Syria,[102][103][160] where it enforced its interpretation of Islamic law, administered an annual budget of more than US$1 billion and had more than 30,000 fighters under its command.[161] By 2019 it had lost the last of its Middle Eastern territories and returned to insurgency in the regions it once controlled, operating from remote hideouts, and continuing its propaganda efforts.[162][163]

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Islamic State
الدولة الإسلامية ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah
Flag[1]
Also known as	IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh
Founder	Abu Musab al-Zarqawi †[2]
Leaders	Leader: Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Former leaders: Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi †[3][4][5] Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi †[6] Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi †[7] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi †[8] Deputy leader in Iraq: Abu Fatima al-Jaheishi[9][better source needed] Deputy leader in Syria: Maher al-Agal †[10] Deputy leader in Libya: Abdul Qader al-Najdi †[11] Military chief: Abu Saleh al-Obaidi[9][better source needed] Head of the Shura Council: Abu Arkan al-Ameri[12] Chief of Syrian military operations: Abu Omar al-Shishani †[13][14][15][16][17] Minister of War: Gulmurod Khalimov †[18][19] Minister of Finance: Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi (POW)[20] Minister of Information: Abu Muhammad al-Furqan †[21] Spokesman: Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari Former spokesmen: Abu Mohammad al-Adnani †[22][13] Abu Hamza al-Qurashi †[23][24] Abu Umar al-Muhajir (POW)[4][25]
Dates of operation	1999–present 1999: Established under the name of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad October 2004: Joined al-Qaeda 13 October 2006: Declaration of an Islamic State in Iraq 8 April 2013: Renamed to "ISIL" and claim of territory in the Levant 3 February 2014: Separated from al-Qaeda[26][27] 29 June 2014: Declaration of caliphate 13 November 2014: Claim of territory in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen 29 January 2015: Claim of territory in South Asia[28] 12 March 2015: Claim of territory in Nigeria[29] 23 June 2015: Claim of territory in North Caucasus[30] 20 July 2017: Recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces 17 October 2017: Capture of Raqqa by SDF forces 23 March 2019: Loses all of its territory in Syria 27 October 2019: Killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 3 February 2022: Killing of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi[31]
Group(s)	Algerian Province Bengal Province Caucasus Province Central Africa Province Greater Sahara Province Khorasan Province Libyan Province Sinai Province[32] Somalia Province West Africa Province Yemen Province Abu Sayyaf Ansar Khalifa Philippines Khalid ibn al-Walid Army Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade Unorganized cells Azerbaijan Province Hind Province Pakistan Province[33] Turkey Province Saudi Arabian Province
Headquarters	Unknown (March 2019 – present) Former Baqubah, Iraq (2006–2007) No central headquarters (2007–2013) Raqqa, Syria (2013–2017) Mayadin, Syria (June–October 2017)[34] Al-Qa'im, Iraq (October–November 2017)[35] Abu Kamal, Syria (November 2017)[36] Hajin, Syria (November 2017 – December 2018)[37] Al-Susah, Syria (December 2018 – January 2019)[38][39] Al-Marashidah, Syria (January–February 2019)[40][41][42] Al-Baghuz Fawqani, Syria (February–March 2019)[43][44]
Active regions	IS territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent (May 2015)[45] Map legend   Islamic State   Iraqi government   Syrian government   Lebanese government   Iraqi Kurdistan forces   Syrian Kurdistan forces   Syrian opposition forces   Turkish Armed Forces   Al-Nusra Front   Hezbollah 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. Detailed current maps Detailed map of the Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese conflicts Detailed map of the Libyan Civil War Detailed map of the Sinai insurgency Detailed map of the Nigerian insurgency Detailed map of the Yemeni Civil War Detailed map of the Insurgency in Mozambique Detailed map of the Somali Civil War
Ideology	Islamic Statism Qutbism[46][47][48] Takfirism[46][49][50] Wahhabism[50][51][52][53] Pan-Islamism Salafism[51][54] Salafi jihadism[51][50][52][53][54] Anti-Yazidi sentiment[31][55][56][57] Anti-Shia sentiment[58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65] Anti-Christian sentiment[58][66][67][68] Anti-Hindu sentiment[69][70][71][72][73][74] Anti-LGBT sentiment[75][76][77][78][79][80][81] Antisemitism[lower-alpha 1] Misogyny[92][93][94][95]
Slogan	baqiya wa tatamadad (Remaining and Expanding)
Status	Terrorist Organization
Size	List of combatant numbers Inside Syria and Iraq: 5,000–10,000[96] (UN Security Council 2019 report) 28,600–31,600[97] (2016 US Defense Department estimate) 200,000[98][99] (2015 claim by Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff) 100,000[100][99] (2015 Jihadist claim) 35,000–100,000[101] (at peak, US State Department estimate) Outside Syria and Iraq: 32,600–57,900 (See Military activity of ISIL for more detailed estimates.) Estimated total: 61,200–257,900 Civilian population In 2015 (near max extent): 8–12 million[102][103] In 2022 (ISWAP): 800,000[104]
Part of	al-Qaeda (2004–2014)
Allies	See section
Opponents	State opponents  Afghanistan  Canada[105] European Union  France  India  Iran  Iraq  Israel[106][107]  Jordan[108]  Lebanon  Libya  Mozambique  Nigeria  Pakistan  Philippines  Russia  Saudi Arabia  Syria  Turkey  United Arab Emirates[108]  United Kingdom  United States  Yemen Additional opponents  Abkhazia  Albania[108]  Algeria[109]  Armenia  Artsakh  Australia[110]  Austria[108]  Azerbaijan  Bahrain[108]  Bangladesh  Belgium  Benin  Bolivia[111]  Bosnia and Herzegovina[108][112]  Brazil[113]  Bulgaria  Cambodia  Cameroon  Chad  China[114]  DR Congo  Croatia[108]  Czech Republic[108]  Denmark  Djibouti[115]  Egypt  Estonia  Fiji[116]  Finland[108]  Georgia  Germany[117]  Greece[118]  Hungary[108]  Indonesia  Ireland[108]  Italy[119]  Japan[108]  Kazakhstan[120]  North Korea[121]  South Korea[108]  Kosovo[108]  Kyrgyzstan[122]  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg[108]  Malaysia[123]  Maldives  Malta[108]  Mauritius[124]  Mexico[108]  Moldova[108]  Morocco[108]  Myanmar  Netherlands  New Zealand[108]  Nicaragua[125]  Niger  North Macedonia[108]  Norway[108]  Oman[108]  Palestine  Poland[108]  Portugal[108]  Qatar[108]  Romania[108]  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  Serbia[108]  Singapore  Slovakia[108]  Slovenia[108]  Somalia  South Ossetia  Spain[126]  Sri Lanka[127]  Sweden[108]   Switzerland[108]  Taiwan[108]  Tajikistan[128]  Thailand  Trinidad and Tobago  Tunisia  Turkmenistan[129]  Uganda[130]  Ukraine[108]  Uzbekistan[131]  Vietnam Non-state opponents Syrian Interim Government  ∟ Occupied Syria  ∟ Syrian National Army[132] North and East Syria  ∟ Syrian Democratic Forces Syrian Salvation Government  ∟ Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham Peshmerga  al-Qaeda[133] Additional opponents Hezbollah Houthis Free Syrian Army Hamas Nineveh Plain Protection Units Badr Organization[134] Popular Mobilization Forces Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq[135] Kata'ib Hezbollah Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba Full list... National Defence Forces Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Kurdistan Communities Union Ahrar al-Sham Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham since 2017[136]) Libya Shield Force Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna[137] Army of Conquest (2015–17) Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham[138] Jaysh al-Mu'ammal[139] Syrian Hezbollah Quwat al-Ridha[140] Liwa Fatemiyoun[141] Liwa Zainebiyoun[142] Islamic Front[143] Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union Ba'ath Brigades[144] Democratic Alliance (Venezuela)[145] More...
Battles and wars	Iraq War (2003–2011) Iraqi insurgency Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Second Libyan Civil War Boko Haram insurgency Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa War in Afghanistan Yemeni Civil War Other conflicts Primary target of Operation Inherent Resolve Military intervention against IS American-led intervention in Syria American-led intervention in Iraq Egyptian intervention in Libya Nigerian-led intervention
Preceded by Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999)[146] Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004) Islamic State in Iraq (2006)

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Notable jihadist organisations Taliban Pakistani Taliban Al-Qaeda Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad Al-Shabaab Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan Ahrar al-Sham Islamic State of Iraq Islamic State Boko Haram Al-Nusra Front Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
Jihadism in Africa Boko Haram insurgency Insurgency in Cabo Delgado Insurgency in the Maghreb and Sahel
Jihadism in Asia Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen East Turkestan Islamic Movement Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Moro insurgency in the Philippines Sinai insurgency South Thailand insurgency Taliban insurgency Arab mujahideen in Afghanistan
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From 2003 to 2013, the group pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda (mostly under the name "Islamic State of Iraq") and participated in the Iraqi insurgency against the United States and its allies. The group changed its name again to "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" for about a year,[164][165] before proclaiming itself to be a worldwide caliphate,[166][167] called simply the Islamic State (الدولة الإسلامية, ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah).[168] As a caliphate, it demanded the religious, political, and military obedience of Muslims worldwide,[169] despite the rejection of its legitimacy by mainstream Muslims and its statehood by the United Nations and various governments.[170]

For the next few years the Iraqi Armed Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces beat back "the Islamic State" and degraded its financial and military infrastructure,[171] assisted by advisors, weapons, training, supplies and airstrikes by the American-led coalition,[172] and later by Russian airstrikes, bombings, cruise missile attacks and scorched-earth tactics across Syria, which focused mostly on razing opposition strongholds rather than IS bases.[173] By March 2019, IS lost one of its last significant territories in the Middle East.

Designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and others, the group was known for its massive human rights abuses:[174] genocide against Yazidis and Christians on a historic scale, systematic persecution of Shia Muslims;[31][175][176] its videos of beheadings (and other kinds of executions)[177] of soldiers, journalists, and aid workers; as well as its destruction of cultural heritage sites.[178]