Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

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Islamic State
(Arabic)
ad-Dawlah l-Islmyyah
Rayat al-`Uqab, the "Eagle Banner"; also called the black flag of jihad
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: (Arabic)
"Bqiyah wa-Tatamaddad" (transliteration)
"Remaining and Expanding"[1][2]
As of 13 September 2014 Areas controlled by the Islamic State Areas claimed by the Islamic State Rest
of Iraq and Syria Note: map includes uninhabited areas.
As of 13 September 2014
Areas controlled by the Islamic State
Areas claimed by the Islamic State
Rest of Iraq and Syria

Note: map includes uninhabited areas.
Status Unrecognized state
Capital Ar-Raqqah, Syria[3][4]
3557N 391E
Government Caliphate
- Caliph[5] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi/ "Ibrahim"[6][7]
Establishment
- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant declared 3 January 2014[8][9]
- Caliphate declared 29 June 2014[5]
Time zone Arabia Standard Time (UTC+3)
Islamic State
(Arabic)
Participant in the Iraq War, the Global War on Terrorism, the Iraqi insurgency, and the Syrian Civil War
Active 2004present[10][11] (under various names)[12]
Ideology Sunni Islamism
Salafist Jihadism
Worldwide Caliphate
Anti-Shiaism
Leaders
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Caliph)[5]
Abu Omar al-Shishani (Field Commander)[13][14]
Abu Mohammad al-Adnani (Spokesman)[15]
Headquarters Ar-Raqqah, Syria
Area of
operations
Iraq
Syria
Lebanon[16][17]
Strength 80,000100,000 (up to 50,000 in Syria and 30,000 in Iraq) (SOHR est.)[18][19]
20,000-31,500 (CIA est.)[20]
Part of al-Qaeda (2004[21]2014)[22]
Originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
(The Group of Monotheism and Jihad)
Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Mujahideen Shura Council
Islamic State of Iraq
Allies
Boko Haram[23]
Jemaah Islamiya[24]
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb[25]
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula[26]
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters[27]
Opponents
NATO[28][29][30]
United States United States[30]
United Kingdom[29]
France[29]
Italy[29]
Germany[29]
Poland[29]
Denmark[29]
Canada[29]
Turkey[29]
Australia Australia (GP) [29]
al-Qaeda
al-Nusra Front[31] (truce)
Ansar al-Islam[32]
Iraq Sunni Iraqi Insurgents
Naqshbandi Army [33]
Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation
General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries[34][35]
Islamic Army in Iraq
Iran Iran[36]
Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Quds Force[37]
Iraq Iraq
Iraqi Armed Forces
Iraqi Shia militias
Iraqi Turkmen Front[38]
Awakening Councils
Iraqi KurdistanSyrian Kurdistan Kurdish forces
Peshmerga
People's Protection Units[39]
Assyria Assyrian forces
Syriac Military Council[40]
Sutoro[41]
Assyrian Patriotic Party[42]
Assyrian Democratic Movement[43][44]
Qaraqosh Protection Committee[45]
Syria Syria[46]
Syrian Armed Forces
Syria Syrian Opposition[47][48][49]
Free Syrian Army
Syria Revolutionaries Front
Islamic Front
Army of Mujahedeen[50]
United States United States (aerial operations)[51]
United States Navy[52]
Lebanon Lebanon
Lebanese Armed Forces[53]
Hezbollah[54]
Turkey Turkey
Turkish Armed Forces (border clashes)[55][56][57][58]
General Directorate of Security (raids in stanbul)[59][60]
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
Saudi Armed Forces (border protection)[61]
Indonesia Indonesia
Indonesian National Police[62]
Battles
and wars
Iraq War
Al Anbar campaign
Second Battle of Fallujah
Civil war in Iraq (200607)[citation needed]
Iraqi Insurgency
Operation al-Shabah
Anbar campaign (201314)
Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)
Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014)
Islamic State-United States conflict
Sinjar massacre
Syrian Civil War
2013 Latakia offensive[63]
Syrian KurdishIslamist conflict[64]
Battle of Qalamoun[65]
Inter-rebel conflict in Syria
Battle of Aleppo
Deir ez-Zor clashes
Battle of Arsal
The Islamic State (IS; Arabic: ad-Dawlah l-Islmiyyah), previously self-described as the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL /asl/; Arabic: also translated: Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria, ISIS /ass/, with Arabic acronym: Daesh)[a] is an unrecognized state and a Sunni jihadist group in the
Middle East, active in Iraq and Syria. In its self-proclaimed status as a caliphate, it claims religious authority over
all Muslims across the world[67] and aspires to bring most of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its
political control[68] beginning with territory in the Levant region which include Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon,
Cyprus and part of southern Turkey.[69] It has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United
States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and has been described by the United
Nations and Western and Middle Eastern media as a terrorist group.[70] The United Nations and Amnesty
International have accused the group of grave human rights abuses.

The Islamic State, still regularly described as ISIL, ISIS and Daesh, originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in
1999. This group was the forerunner of Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidaynlater commonly known as al-
Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)a group formed by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi in 2004 which took part in the Iraqi insurgency
against American-led forces and their Iraqi allies following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[69][71] During the 2003
2011 Iraq War, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council before adopting the
Islamic State of Iraq (ISI /as/).[71][72] At its height it enjoyed a significant presence in the Iraqi governorates
of Al Anbar, Nineveh, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil, Diyala and Baghdad, and claimed Baqubah as a
capital city.[73][74][75][76] However, the violent attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq to govern its territory led
to a backlash from Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent groups circa 2008, which helped to propel the Awakening
movement and a temporary decline in the group.[71][77]

ISIS grew significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, gaining support in Iraq as a result of alleged
economic and political discrimination against Iraqi Sunnis. Then, after entering the Syrian Civil War, it established a
large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.[78] In June 2014, it had at
least 4,000 fighters in its ranks in Iraq.[79] It has claimed responsibility for attacks on government and military
targets and for attacks that killed thousands of civilians.[80] In August 2014, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights claimed that the number of fighters in the group had increased to 50,000 in Syria and 30,000 in Iraq,[18]
while the CIA estimated in September 2014 that in both countries it had between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters.[20]
ISIS had close links to al-Qaeda until February 2014 when, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all
ties with the group, reportedly for its brutality and "notorious intractability".[81][82]

ISISs original aim was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni-majority regions of Iraq, and following its involvement
in the Syrian Civil War this expanded to include controlling Sunni-majority areas of Syria.[83] A caliphate was
proclaimed on 29 June 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadinow known as Amir al-Mu'minin Caliph Ibrahimwas named
as its caliph, and the group was renamed the Islamic State.[5]

Contents [hide]
1 Name and name changes
1.1 Index of names
2 Ideology and beliefs
3 Goals
4 Territorial claims
4.1 Governance
5 Analysis
6 Propaganda and social media
7 Finances
8 Equipment
9 History
9.1 As Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (19992004)
9.2 As Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (20042006)
9.2.1 Involvement in Iraqi Insurgency
9.2.2 Inciting sectarian violence
9.2.3 Operations outside Iraq and other activities
9.2.4 Goals and umbrella organizations
9.3 As Islamic State of Iraq (20062013)
9.3.1 Strength and activity
9.3.2 Decline
9.3.3 Conflicts with other groups
9.3.4 Transformation and resurgence
9.4 As Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (20132014)
9.4.1 Declaration and dispute with al-Nusra Front
9.4.2 Conflicts with other groups
9.4.3 Relations with the Syrian government
9.5 As Islamic State (2014present)
10 Human rights abuses
10.1 War crimes accusations
10.2 Religious persecution
10.3 Treatment of civilians
10.4 Sexual violence allegations
10.5 Guidelines for civilians
11 Timeline of events
11.1 200306 events
11.2 2007 events
11.3 200912 events
11.4 2013 events
11.5 2014 events
11.6 September 2014
12 Notable members
13 Designation as a terrorist organization
14 Conspiracy theories
15 See also
16 Notes
17 References
18 Bibliography
19 External links
Name and name changes
Since its formation in early 1999; as Jamat al-Tawd wa-al-Jihd, "The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad"
(JTJ), the group has had a number of different names, including some that other groups use for it.[10][71]

In October 2004, the group leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi swore loyalty to Osama bin Laden and changed the name
of the group to Tanm Qidat al-Jihd f Bild al-Rfidayn, "The Organization of Jihad's Base in the Country of the
Two Rivers", more commonly known as "Al-Qaeda in Iraq" (AQI).[10][84] Although the group has never called
itself "Al-Qaeda in Iraq", this name has frequently been used to describe it through its various incarnations.[12]

In January 2006, AQI merged with several smaller Iraqi insurgent groups under an umbrella organization called the
"Mujahideen Shura Council." This was claimed to be little more than a media exercise and an attempt to give the
group a more Iraqi flavour and perhaps to distance al-Qaeda from some of al-Zarqawi's tactical errors, notably the
2005 bombings by AQI of three hotels in Amman.[85] Al-Zarqawi was killed in June 2006, after which the group
direction shifted again.

On 12 October 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Council joined four more insurgent factions and the representatives of
a number of Iraqi Arab tribes, and together they swore the traditional Arab oath of allegiance known as ilf al-
Muayyabn ("Oath of the Scented Ones").[b][86][87] During the ceremony, the participants swore to free Iraq's
Sunnis from what they described as Shia and foreign oppression, and to further the name of Allah and restore
Islam to glory.[c][86]

On 13 October 2006, the establishment of the Dawlat al-Iraq al-Islmyah, "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI) was
announced.[10][88] A cabinet was formed and Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi became ISI's figurehead emir,
with the real power residing with the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.[89] The declaration was met with hostile
criticism, not only from ISI's jihadist rivals in Iraq, but from leading jihadist ideologues outside the country.[90] Al-
Baghdadi and al-Masri were both killed in a USIraqi operation in April 2010. The next leader of the ISI was Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS.

On 8 April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant",
also known as "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham."[91][92][93] The name is abbreviated as ISIL or alternately
ISIS. The final "S" in the acronym ISIS stems from the Arabic word Shm (or Shaam), which in the context of
global jihadas in Jund al-Sham, for examplerefers to the Levant or Greater Syria.[94][95] ISIS was also known
as al-Dawlah ("the State"), or al-Dawlat al-Islmyah ("the Islamic State"). These are short-forms of the name
"Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham" in Arabic;[96] it is similar to calling the United States of America "the States".

ISIS's detractors, particularly in Syria, extensively refer to the group using various forms of "Daesh" (pronounced
"Da3esh" and transliterated as "Desh"), a term based on the Arabic letters, Dl, Alif, Ayn and n(Shin), which
form the acronym () of the Arabic name translated as, "the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (al-Dawla al-
Islamiya fi Iraq wa ash-Sham).[97][98] The group considers the term derogatory and reportedly uses flogging as a
punishment for people who use the acronym in ISIS-controlled areas.[99][100]

On 14 May 2014, the United States Department of State announced its decision to use "Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant" (ISIL) as the group's primary name.[98] The debate over which acronym should be used to designate
the group, ISIL or ISIS, has been discussed by several commentators.[95][96]

On 29 June 2014, the establishment of a new caliphate was announced, and the group formally changed its name
to the "Islamic State" (IS).[5][101][102][d]

In late August 2014, a leading Islamic authority Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah in Egypt advised Muslims to stop calling
the group "Islamic State" and instead refer to it as "Al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria" or "QSIS", because of
the militant group's un-Islamic character.[104][105]