Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām Participant in the Syrian Civil War, Iraq War (2003–2011),Iraqi insurgency, Iraq War (2014–present), Second Libyan Civil War, Boko Haram insurgency, War in North-West Pakistan, War in Afghanistan, Yemeni Civil War, and other conflicts Primary target of Operation Inherent Resolve and of the military intervention against ISIL: in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Nigeria.
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Active	1999–present Joined al-Qaeda: October 2004 Declaration of an Islamic state in Iraq: 13 October 2006 Claim of territory in the Levant: 8 April 2013 Separated from al-Qaeda:[1][2] 3 February 2014[3] Declaration of caliphate: 29 June 2014 Claim of territory in: Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen: 13 November 2014 Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of India: 29 January 2015[4] Nigeria: 12 March 2015[5][6] North Caucasus: 23 June 2015[7]
Ideology	Salafism[8][9][10] Salafi jihadism[10][11] Wahhabism[11][12]
Leaders	Leader: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,[13] Deputy leader: Abu Ala al-Afri still unconfirmed †,[14][15] Deputy leader in Syria: Abu Ali al-Anbari,[16] Deputy leader in Iraq: Abu Muslim al-Turkmani †,[16][17] Military chief: Abu Suleiman al-Naser,[18][19] Head of the Shura Council: Abu Arkan al-Ameri,[20] Chief spokesperson: Abu Mohammad al-Adnani,[18][21][22] Chief of Syrian military operations:Abu Omar al-Shishani[18][23]
Headquarters	Ar-Raqqah, Syria (de facto capital)
Area of operations	Military situation as of 18 November 2015, in the Iraqi, Syrian, and Lebaneseconflicts.   Controlled by the Iraqi government   Controlled by the Syrian government   Controlled by the Lebanese government   Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant   Controlled by Iraqi Kurdistan forces   Controlled by Syrian Kurdistan forces   Controlled by Syrian opposition forces   Controlled by al-Nusra Front   Controlled by Hezbollah Note: Iraq and Syria contain large desert areas with limited populations. These areas are mapped as under the control of forces holding roads and towns within them. Detailed map of the Syrian Civil War Detailed map of the Iraqi insurgency Detailed map of the Lebanese insurgency Detailed map of the Libyan Civil War Detailed map of the Nigerian insurgency Detailed map of the Sinai insurgency Detailed map of the Yemeni Civil War
Strength	Inside Syria and Iraq 200,000[24] (Kurdish claim) 100,000[25] (Jihadist claim) 20,000–31,000[26] (CIA estimate) Outside Syria and Iraq 32,600–57,900 (See Military of ISIL for more detailed estimates.) Estimated total 52,600–257,900
Originated as	Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād (1999)[27]

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; Arabic: الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام‎), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, /ˈaɪsɨs/), the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham,^[28] Daesh, or simply Islamic State (IS),^[29] is aWahhabi/Salafi jihadist extremist militant group, self-proclaimed to be a caliphate and Islamic state. It is led by and mainly composed of Sunni Arabs from Iraq and Syria. As of March 2015, it has control over territory occupied by 10 million people in Iraq and Syria, and through loyal local groups, has control over small areas of Libya, Nigeria and Afghanistan. The group also operates or has affiliates in other parts of the world, including North Africa and South Asia.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]}

The group is known in Arabic as ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām, leading to the acronym Da'ish or Daesh(داعش, Arabic pronunciation: [ˈdaːʕiʃ]),^[36][37] the Arabic equivalent of "ISIL". On 29 June 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be aworldwide caliphate, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being named its caliph, and renamed itself ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah (الدولة الإسلامية, "Islamic State" (IS)). As a caliphate, it claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide, and that "the legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organisations, becomes null by the expansion of the khilāfah's [caliphate's] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas".^{[28][38][39][40]} The United Nations has held ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has reported ethnic cleansing by the group on a "historic scale". The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union and member states, the United States, India, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other countries. Over 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war against ISIL.

The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004. The group participated in the Iraqi insurgency that followed the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces. In January 2006, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council, which proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in October 2006. After the Syrian Civil War began in March 2011, the ISI, under the leadership of al-Baghdadi, sent delegates into Syria in August 2011. These fighters named themselves Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahli ash-Shām—al-Nusra Front—and established a large presence in Sunni-majority areas of Syria, within the governorates of Ar-Raqqah,Idlib, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo. In April 2013, al-Baghdadi announced the merger of the ISI with al-Nusra Front and that the name of the reunited group was now the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). However, Abu Mohammad al-Julaniand Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leaders of al-Nusra and al-Qaeda respectively, rejected the merger. After an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with ISIL on 3 February 2014, citing its failure to consult and "notorious intransigence". In Syria, the group has conducted ground attacks on both government forces and rebel factions in the Syrian Civil War. The group gained prominence after it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in western Iraq in an offensive initiated in early 2014. Iraq's territorial loss almost caused a collapse of the Iraqi government and prompted a renewal of US military action in Iraq.^{[3][41][42][43]}

ISIL is adept at social media, posting Internet videos of beheadings of soldiers, civilians, journalists and aid workers, and is known for its destruction of cultural heritage sites. Muslim leaders around the world have condemned ISIL's ideology and actions, arguing that the group has strayed overwhelmingly from the path of true Islam and that its actions do not reflect the religion's true teachings or virtues.^[44][45] The group's adoption of the name "Islamic State" and idea of a caliphate have been widely criticised, with the United Nations, NATO, various governments, and mainstream Muslim groups rejecting both.