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Islamic State

The Islamic State (IS),[b] also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and by its Arabic acronym Daesh,[c] is a transnational Salafi jihadist group and an unrecognised quasi-state.[146] Its origins were in the Jai'sh al-Taifa al-Mansurah organization founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004, which fought alongside Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn during the Iraqi insurgency. The group gained global prominence in 2014, when its militants successfully captured large territories in northwestern Iraq[147][148][149] and eastern Syria, taking advantage of the ongoing Syrian civil war.[150][151][152] IS is well known for its massive human rights violations and war crimes. It engaged in the persecution of Christians and Shia Muslims, and published videos of beheadings and executions against journalists and aid workers. By the end of 2015, it was internationally considered to be one of the biggest terrorist organizations of all time and it ruled an area with an estimated population of twelve million people,[100][101][153] where it enforced its extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding US$1 billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters.[154]

See also: Names of the Islamic State

Islamic State

ISIS, ISIL, IS, Daesh

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi †

1999–present

Unorganized cells

Unknown (March 2019 – present)

Former

Map – refer to following caption
IS territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent (May 2015)[43]

Map legend
Detailed current maps

Baqiya wa Tatamadad (Remaining and Expanding)

Active

List of combatant numbers
  • Inside Syria and Iraq:
    • 5,000–10,000[94] (UN Security Council 2019 report)
    • 28,600–31,600 (July 2018)[95] (2016 US Defense Department estimate)
    • 200,000[96][97] (2015 claim by Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff)
    • 100,000[98][97] (2015 Jihadist claim)
    • 35,000–100,000[99] (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[100][101]
  • In 2022 (ISWAP): 800,000[102]

See section

State opponents
Additional opponents
Non-state opponents
Additional opponents

Primary target of

After a protracted and intense conflict with American, Iraqi, and Kurdish forces, IS lost control of all its Middle Eastern territories by 2019. It subsequently reverted to insurgency tactics, operating from remote hideouts while continuing its propaganda efforts. These efforts have garnered it a significant following in northern and Sahelian Africa.[155][156]


Between 2004 and 2013, IS was allied to al-Qaeda (primarily under the name "Islamic State of Iraq") and participated in the Iraqi insurgency against the American occupation. The group later changed its name to "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" for about a year,[157][158] before declaring itself to be a worldwide caliphate,[159][160] called simply the Islamic State (الدولة الإسلامية, ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah).[161] As a self-proclaimed caliphate, it demanded the religious, political, and military obedience of Muslims worldwide,[162] despite the rejection of its legitimacy by mainstream Muslims and its statehood by the United Nations and most governments.[163]


Over the following years, the Iraqi Armed Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces pushed back the IS and degraded its financial and military infrastructure,[164] assisted by advisors, weapons, training, supplies and airstrikes by the American-led coalition,[165] and later by Russian airstrikes, bombings, cruise missile attacks and scorched-earth tactics across Syria, which focused mostly on razing Syrian opposition strongholds rather than IS bases.[166] By March 2019, IS lost the last of its territories in West Asia, although it maintained a significant territorial presence in Africa as of 2023.[167]


Designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations and others, IS was known for its massive human rights violations. During its rule in Northern Iraq, it launched a genocide against Yazidis, engaged in persecution of Christians and Shia Muslims; publicized videos of beheadings of soldiers, journalists, and aid workers; and destroyed several cultural sites. The group has also perpetrated massacres in territories outside of its control in events widely described as terrorist attacks, such as the November 2015 Paris attacks, the 2024 Kerman bombings and the Crocus City Hall attack in March 2024.[168]

proceeds from the occupation of territory (including control of banks, petroleum reservoirs, taxation, extortion, and robbery of economic assets)

kidnapping for ransom

[304]

donations from , Kuwait, Qatar and other Gulf states, often disguised as meant for "humanitarian charity"

Saudi Arabia

material support provided by foreign fighters

fundraising through modern communication networks

[305]

International reaction

International criticism

The group has attracted widespread criticism internationally for its extremism, from governments and international bodies such as the United Nations and Amnesty International. On 24 September 2014, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated: "As Muslim leaders around the world have said, groups like ISIL – or Da'ish – have nothing to do with Islam, and they certainly do not represent a state. They should more fittingly be called the 'Un-Islamic Non-State'."[335] ISIL has been classified a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union and its member states, the United States, Russia, India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and many other countries. Over 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war against ISIL (see § Countries and groups at war with IS). The group was described as a cult in a Huffington Post column by notable cult authority Steven Hassan.[336]


Twitter has removed many accounts used to spread IS propaganda, and Google developed a "Redirect Method" which identifies individuals searching for IS-related material and redirects them to content which challenges IS narratives.[337]

 [145]

al-Qaeda

al-Nusra Front[445]—with localised truces and co-operation at times

[446]

al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

[447]

al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

[448]

Al-Shabaab

 [449]

Taliban

Hamas[450]

 [451]

Hezbollah

 [452]

Houthis

Kurdistan Workers' Party—ground troops in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Syrian Kurdistan[453]

Syrian Democratic Forces

Nineveh Plain Protection Units – an Assyrian Christian militia in the Nineveh Plains in Northern Iraq[454]

[455]

Amal Movement

– Suqur al-Furat[456]

Syrian Resistance

[457]

Liwa al-Quds

Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas

Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Forces

[458]

Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine

[459]

Arab Nationalist Guard

[460]

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command

Fatah al-Intifada

[461]

Syrian Revolutionary Command Council

[462]

Mujahideen Shura Council (Syria)

[463]

Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta

[464]

Fatah Halab

[465]

Mare' Operations Room

[466]

Golan Regiment

[467]

Mukhtar Army

by Council on Foreign Relations

The Islamic State

Counter Extremism Project profile

ISIS

by BBC News

"'Islamic State': Raqqa's loss seals rapid rise and fall"

: Losing Iraq (July 2014), The Rise of ISIS (October 2014), Obama at War (May 2015), Escaping ISIS (July 2015), documentaries by PBS

Frontline

August 2014 documentary by Vice News

The Islamic State

report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

"ISIS: Portrait of a Jihadi Terrorist Organization"

Operation Inherent Resolve updates

Archived 19 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine, publication by the Combating Terrorism Center

"The Group That Calls Itself a State"

at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 August 2023), publication by the United Nations Security Council

Letter dated 24 July 2023 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertaking