Islamic State of Iraq

Islamic State of Iraq traces its origins to Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ) group, which was formed by the Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Jordan in 1999. Al-Zarqawi led the group, until his death in June 2006. Jama'at fought the American occupation forces during the early Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and on 17 October 2004 al-Zarqawi had pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network; and the group became known as "Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn" (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq).^[12][13][14] In January 2006, AQI and seven other Sunni guerrilla groups formed the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), which on 15 October 2006 disbanded to form the "Islamic State of Iraq" organization, led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as its first Emir.^[15] Announcing the dissolution of both AQI and the MSC, al-Baghdadi declared that the previous organizations have been replaced by ISI.^[16]


Within weeks, former AQI leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi and became ISI's war minister, thereby transferring control of around 22,000 AQI fighters and volunteers to ISI.^[16] At its height during 2006–2008, ISI declared the city of Baqubah as its capital and governed territories in its strongholds of Mosul, Al-Anbar, as well as in the regions of Baghdad and Diyala. The organization also maintained a formidable military force. The area under its control began diminishing following the American troop surge in 2007, during which dozens of ISI leaders were killed by the forces of the U.S.-led coalition. Although unaffiliated with the al-Qaeda network,^[17][18] the ISI was often labeled by U.S. military forces as "al-Qaeda in Iraq" until 2013.^[19]


ISI Emir Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir were killed during a military operation by U.S.-led coalition forces on a safehouse on 18 April 2010. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the Emir of ISI after the death of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. On 7 April 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi re-designated ISI as the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), officially announcing the group's expansion into Syria and its intention to absorb the Al-Nusra Front. Al-Qaeda Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri strongly denounced the announcement and officially demanded the withdrawal of ISIL from Syria. The ensuing events ignited a full-scale global conflict between ISIL and Al-Qaeda. After ISIL's rapid territorial expansion during its June 2014 Northern Iraq offensive, the group renamed itself as "ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah" (lit. 'Islamic State') and proclaimed itself to be a caliphate.^[20]