Indonesia in Focus: Unfinished journey (91)

Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader

Unfinished journey (91)

(Part Ninety-one, Depok, West Java, Indonesia, 16 September 2014, 20:05 pm)

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are not only troublesome US-led 40 countries that have agreed to fight ISIS, but also troublesome Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Police check Turks linked ISIS

Sukarno-Hatta Airport, a Turkish citizen who was arrested in South Sulawesi Brimob taken into custody.

Indonesian Police said it is investigating possible links to four Turkish citizens were arrested in Central Sulawesi, on Saturday (13/09) morning, with a Daulah Islamiyah militant group that previously called ISIS.

Four people were arrested Turkish citizens in the district of Parigi, Moutong, Central Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi with three residents who later suspected members of a terrorist group Santoso, alias Abu Wardah is still at large.

"Still we continue to go into their relationship (with a Daulah Islamiyah militant group)," said Kabagpenum Police Headquarters, Police Commissioner Agus Rianto, the BBC Indonesia, Heyder Affan, Sunday (14/09) afternoon.

Once captured, the four Turkish citizens had been flown to Jakarta on Sunday morning and are now placed in the detention room Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters, Jakarta.

The three Indonesian citizens were arrested from Central Sulawesi, according to Agus Rianto, a member of the terrorist group leader unexpected Santoso, alias Abu Wardah. They are still being held in police custody Palu, Central Sulawesi.

"Among the three citizens who were arrested, according to the data that we have, it is associated with a group Santoso," said Agus.

Help the community

Local police arrested seven people were in the district of Parigi, Moutong, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday (13/09) morning, when the group was driving the vehicle from Palu to Poso.

"When we conducted a raid on the road, the vehicle suddenly reverse direction, (and) run away," said Agus.

Police arrested unexpected riots in Poso, November 2012, after police arrested suspected terrorists.

After being chased by the police involving the 88th Special Forces Police Headquarters, he added, the police then arrested three Indonesians who later revealed unexpected terrorist group members Santoso

"There, we are getting passport, which reads them Turkish passports," he said.

With the assistance of the community, he said, the police then continued the search for four people of the Turkish citizens.

"And on Saturday (13/09) afternoon, we managed to capture four foreign countries," he said.

internationalization movement

Meanwhile, terrorism analyst, Al Chaidar, said he suspected Turkish citizens arrest shows that the group suspected terrorist leaders in Poso Santoso want to do internationalization movement.

According to him, this happens after Santoso group-which was declared a fugitive terrorists linked a number of cases declared his support for the movement Daulah Islamiyah in Iraq and Syria.

"It looks like they've done with intense communication about how to send aid to the leadership group Santoso," said Al Chaidardi when contacted by BBC Indonesia, Sunday (14/09) afternoon.

Brimob troops exchanged fire while involved with terrorist groups in Poso, late last November 2012.

He suspected, four Turkish citizens that are representative of a Daulah Islamiyah or ISIS group who came to Poso to "protect" the group Santoso.

"Because there is no such thing Junnah concept," said the lecturer at the University of Malikusaleh, Lhoksumawe, Aceh Province.

Junnah is the concept of a Caliph protection given to people or groups who claim the oath of allegiance to him.

cabinet meeting

Separately, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a cabinet meeting on Sunday afternoon, which discusses developments related terajhir Daulah Islamiyah and his behavior was perceived to Indonesia.

In a speech during the opening of the meeting, the President reiterated the stance of Indonesia rejected and be aware of the spread of the ideology of Daulah Islamiyah or ISIS.

Indonesian President SBY asks citizens remain wary of the spread of the ideology of DI in Indonesia.

"This means we do not ternina-bobo, should not we be lulled as if it's dangerous outside the country in the Middle East, but if we are not careful and do not do the right thing can also happen in our country such violent acts," said SBY .

Earlier, police had arrested citizen terrorist suspects in Central Java and Depok, West Java, which is later revealed they were supporters of the Daulah Islamiyah, IN.

Appeal the rejection of the ideology of DI has been voiced by various Islamic organizations, after appearing to support the Indonesian people's movement militants.

Who advocates Daulah Islamiyah or ISIS?

Performance Daulah Islamiyah much better than the other militias.

A number of countries accused of funding the Gulf region extreme Daulah Islamiyah (DI) or ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

But as explained Michael Stephens, director of the Council of the Royal Unity Service in Qatar, there is no black and white when it comes to war.

Many posts have been made about the DI obtained support from donors and supporters, especially from the rich countries of the Gulf region.

Most of the charges leveled DI enemy in Iraq and Syria that Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia replied the responsible for the existence of this group.

But what actually happened is more complicated and further studies are necessary, said Michael Stephens.

Wrong policy

Qatar is actually not directly fund the DI.

The combination of policies that are not clear and naivete make weapons and Qatar fund falls into the hands of DI.

Saudi Arabia also does not have a policy of direct government funding of this group.

qatar

Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the President of France, Francois Hollande.

Just like Qatar, the desire to drop the president of Syria, Bashar al Assad, causing large errors electoral allies.

Both countries should examine themselves, although such a process may not be announced to the public.

Religion and support

But there is a deeper problem, namely religious affiliation and sympathy to a group which openly oppose the Iranian Shiite and support of many people in the Gulf.

IN terrible acts committed elusive people who want to support it, but the purpose of establishing an Islamic state have certainly attracted the attention of several groups of Islamic thought.

Many people who support this goal has been in Syria, fought and died for DI and other groups.

Others expressed support to the more passive and they will continue to do this.

good performance

DI, group outperformed the others in battle.

isis

Daulah Islamiyah aims to establish an Islamic caliphate.

They campaigned media in a variety of languages and managed to attract the attention and support young men and women.

In every action, ranging from war, organization, hierarchy and media messages, DI is much more advanced than other opposition groups operating in the region.

DI has created a state-like structure, through ministries, courts and simple tax system, which asks society to pay taxes in an amount which is much lower than the Assad government.

The group is also known as ISIS Click this show a consistent pattern since it was first annexed his territory at the beginning of 2013.

They immediately master the sources of water, flour and hydrocarbons, concentrated population distribution thus depends on the IN in order to survive.

Daulah Islamiyah exported about 9,000 barrels of oil per day at a price of around $ 25-US $ 45.

What can be defeated?

Bigger question is whether the power of such areas can be defeated.

Victory can not be achieved without Western military intervention.

Sunni groups in Iraq is supporting this group, but they do not have the weapons and the funding necessary to drop the DI.

Iraqi military and colleagues in Syria also does not have this capability.

The purpose of establishing the Caliphate

Mass killings and beheadings IN sparked fears and anger the world.

Daulah Islamiyah, also known as ISIS is a radical Islamic group who have invaded many parts of eastern Syria and Iraq to the north and west.

Strategy including the brutal mass murder and kidnapping members of religious and ethnic groups, in addition to the beheadings of soldiers and wartawan- sparking fears and anger at the world and the United States military intervention.

What you want Daulah Islamiyah?

This group are desirous of establishing a 'caliphate' or a state-controlled one religious and political leaders according to Islamic law, or sharia.

Although currently limited in Iraq and Syria, IN vowed to "cross the border" Jordan and Lebanon and "liberate" Palestine.

They have the support of Islamic people in the world who claim allegiance to its leader, Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The origin of DI

Ancestor bakalKlik Daulah Islamiyah was the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who founded the Tawhid wa al-Jihad in 2002.

A year after the invasion of Iraq led by the United States, Zarqawi expressed support for Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda formed in Iraq (AQI).

al Baghdadi

DI leader, Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Zarqawi tactics al-Qaeda leader is seen as too extreme.

In 2006, AQI organization founded Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which then weakened due to an increase in American troops and the establishment of the board of Awakening by Sunni Arab tribes that refused brutality.

After becoming leader in 2010, Baghdadi rebuilding ISI.

They were joined in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, establish al-Nusra Front.

April 2013, Baghdadi announced the merger of its troops in Iraq and Syria and created the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

June 2014, ISIS control of the city of Mosul, and advanced south towards Baghdad.

At the end of June, after mengkonsilidasi mastery of several cities, ISIS declared the establishment of the caliphate and changed its name to Daulah Islamiyah.

Controlled territory

Estimate the number of DI and its allies control of 40,000 km2 of the territory of Iraq and Syria, an area roughly Belgian state.

Towns they controlled include Mosul, Tikrit, Falluja and Tal Afar in Iraq; Raqqa in Syria.

They control oil fields, dams, main road and border crossings.

Eight million people are estimated to be under the power of a fully or partially IN.

How many militia?

American officials estimate about 15,000 active militia.

Daulah Islamiyah causing thousands of people were displaced, including children.

Iraqi observers, Hisham al-Hashimi said at the beginning of August, there are about 30000-50000 people.

What weapon IN?

Militias have access to or be able to use different types of small guns and heavy weapons, including machine guns on trucks, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns and missile systems surface to air.

They also seized tanks and armored vehicles Syria and Iraq.

Where DI get the funds?

Daulah Islamiyah reportedly has $ 2 billion in cash and assets.

At first obtained financial support from a number of people in the Arab Gulf countries.

Now it DI is a self funding organization, with revenues in the millions of dollars per month from oil and gas fields, in addition to taxes, road tolls, smuggling, extortion and kidnapping.

Why so brutal?

DI members are Sunni Islamic jihadists who interpret the extreme.

They claim that the basic act of brutality is the Quranic verse.

How ISIS jihadist groups formed?

ISIS called more attractive to young jihadists than al-Qaeda.

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS is an active group of Jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS was formed in April 2013 and the embryo bakalnya derived from al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), but later denied by al-Qaeda.

This group became the main jihadist group fighting government forces in Syria and its armed forces in Iraq.

The letter "S" in the acronym ISIS comes from the Arabic word "al-Sham", which refers to the region of Damascus (Syria) and Iraq.

But in the context of the global jihad is called the Levant which refers to the region in the Middle East that includes Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, and also the Southeast region of Turkey.

Their number is not known, but is estimated to have thousands of fighters, including foreign jihadists.

Our correspondent says it seems ISIS will be the most dangerous jihadi groups after al-Qaeda.

Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?

The organization is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Only a few know about him, but he believed born in Samarra, north of Baghdad, in 1971 and joined the rebels broke out shortly after Iraq was invaded by the United States in 2003.

In 2010 he became the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the group that later became ISIS.

Baghdadi known as a war commander and tactician, analysts say it makes ISIS be attractive to young jihadists dibandigkan al-Qaeda, led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Islamic theologian.

Prof. Peter Neumann from King's College London estimates that approximately 80% of Western fighters in Syria have joined this group.

ISIS claim to have fighters from the UK, France, Germany, and other European countries, like the United States, the Arab world and the countries of the Caucasus.

sources of funds

Unlike the rebels in Syria, ISIS looks to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

This group appears to work building a military force. In 2013 then, they controlled the city Raqqa in Syria - which is controlled by the first provincial capital pemberonyak.

June 2014, ISIS has also mastered Mosul, which shocked the world. The United States said the fall of the second largest city in Iraq is a threat to the region.

The group is relying on funding from wealthy individuals in the Arab countries, especially Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which supports the battle against President Bashar al-Assad.

Currently, ISIS mentioned mastered a number of oil fields in the eastern part of Syria, which reportedly sold back oil supplies to the Syrian government.

ISIS also mentioned selling antique objects of historic sites.

ISIS

ISIS master Raqqa city and major city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Prof. Neumann sure before mastering Mosul past June, ISIS has had the funds and assets worth $ 900 million dollars, which was later increased to $ 2 billion.

The group mentioned taking hundreds of millions of dollars from the central bank in Mosul Iraq. And they are even greater if the finances can control the oil fields in northern Iraq.

This group operates separately from other jihadist groups in Syria, al-Nusra Front, an official affiliate of al-Qaeda in the country, and enjoyed a "tense" with other rebels.

Baghdadi tried to join al-Nusra, which later rejected the offer. Since then, the two groups operate separately.

Zawahiri has urged ISIS focus on Iraq and Syria to leave al-Nusra, but Baghdadi and fighters against al-Qaida leaders.

In Syria, another rebel attack ISIS and violence against the civilian supporters of the Syrian opoisisi.

See more of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State

ash bkar al Baghdadi

Baghdadi is deemed to have knowledge of Islam is more than Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri.

Dated July 5, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was known among his supporters as the Caliph Ibrahim, for the first time showing his face on the Friday sermon in Mosul, Iraq.

Previous several picture is leaked, but Baghdadi himself did not appear in public for four years since becoming the leader of the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq Jihadists, before Click the name ISIS, which is now becoming an Islamic state.

related news

The caliphate covers an area of Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in eastern Iraq.

ISIS spokesman said this development led them to change the name of ISIS, which means Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, into an "Islamic State" course.

The group also said it was raising their leader, Abu Bakr as caliph al-Baghdadi, said to be the leader of all Muslims.

"He is a priest and for every Muslim caliph (in the world)," said Al-Adnani.

Announced the formation of an Islamic caliphate after ISIS seize some territory in Iraq.

ISIS-groups has the line Sunni- militant ideology similar to al-Qaida but reinforced by foreign fighters from outside Iraq.

Charles Lister, analyst at the Brookings Doha Center research institutions, assessing this announcement as an important development.

"Regardless of the question of legitimacy, the announcement of the establishment of the Caliphate is the most significant development of international jihadism since the Sept. 11 attacks," Lister said as quoted by Reuters news agency. (BBC)

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"ISIL" and "ISIS" redirect here. For other uses, see ISIL (disambiguation) and ISIS (disambiguation).

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Islamic State

الدولة الإسلامية (Arabic)

ad-Dawlah l-Islāmīyyah

Rayat al-`Uqab, the "Eagle Banner"; also called the black flag of jihad

Flag Coat of arms

Motto: باقية وتتمدد (Arabic)

"Bāqiyah 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]

35°57′N 39°1′E

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

الدولة الإسلامية (Arabic)

Participant in the Iraq War, the Global War on Terrorism, the Iraqi insurgency, and the Syrian Civil War

Active 2004–present[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 80,000–100,000 (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 İstanbul)[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 (2006–07)[citation needed]

Iraqi Insurgency

Operation al-Shabah

Anbar campaign (2013–14)

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 Kurdish–Islamist 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: الدولة الإسلامية‎ ad-Dawlah l-ʾIslāmiyyah), previously calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; /ˈaɪsəl/) / the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS; /ˈaɪsɪs/; Arabic: الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام‎), and also known by the Arabic acronym Daʿesh (داعش),[a] is an unrecognized state and a Sunni jihadist group active in Iraq and Syria in the Middle East. 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 includes Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus and part of southern Turkey.[69] It has been described by the United Nations and Western and Middle Eastern media as a terrorist group[70] and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. The United Nations and Amnesty International have accused the group of grave human rights abuses.

The Islamic State, also widely known as ISIS, ISIL and Daʿesh, originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. This group was the forerunner of Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn—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,[not in citation given] which consolidated further into the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) (/ˈaɪsɪ/).[71] shortly afterwards.[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 in around 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]

ISIS’s 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-Baghdadi—now known as Amir al-Mu'minin Caliph Ibrahim—was 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 (1999–2004)

9.2 As Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (2004–2006)

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 (2006–2013)

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 (2013–2014)

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 (2014–present)

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 2003–06 events

11.2 2007 events

11.3 2009–12 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 Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād, "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 Tanẓīm Qāʻidat al-Jihād fī Bilād al-Rāfidayn, "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 Ḥilf al-Muṭayyabīn ("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-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah, "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 US–Iraqi operation in April 2010. The next leader of the ISI was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current leader of ISIS.

Territory Control by 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 Shām (or Shaam), which in the context of global jihad—as in Jund al-Sham, for example—refers to the Levant or Greater Syria.[94][95] ISIS was also known as al-Dawlah ("the State"), or al-Dawlat al-Islāmīyah ("the Islamic State"). These are short-forms of the name "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham" in Arabic.[96]

ISIS's detractors, particularly in Syria, extensively refer to the group using various forms of "Daʿesh" (pronounced "Da3esh" and transliterated as "Dāʿesh"), a term based on the Arabic letters, Dāl, ʾAlif, ʿAyn and Šīn(Shin), which form the acronym (داعش) 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]

Index of names

These names are discussed above. Links go to anchors within this page.

al-Dawlah ("the State")

al-Dawlat al-Islāmīyah ("the Islamic State")

AQI : Al-Qaeda in Iraq : Tanẓīm Qāʻidat al-Jihād fī Bilād al-Rāfidayn

Daʿesh / Da'ish / Daesh (داعش) : al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi Iraq wa ash-Sham

ISI : Islamic State of Iraq : Dawlat al-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah

ISIL : Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

ISIS : Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham

Islamic State

JTJ : Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād : The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad

Mujahideen Shura Council

QSIS : Al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria

Ideology and beliefs

ISIS is a Sunni extremist group that follows al-Qaeda's hard-line ideology and adheres to global jihadist principles.[106][107] Like al-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups, ISIS emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, the world’s first Islamist group dating back to the late 1920s in Egypt.[108] ISIS follows an extreme anti-Western interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence and regards those who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates. Concurrently, ISIS—now IS—aims to establish a Salafist-orientated Islamist state in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Levant.[107]

ISIS's ideology originates in the branch of modern Islam that aims to return to the early days of Islam, rejecting later "innovations" in the religion which it believes corrupt its original spirit. It condemns later caliphates and the Ottoman Empire for deviating from what it calls pure Islam and hence has been attempting to establish its own caliphate.[109] However, some Sunni commentators, including Salafi and jihadi muftis such as Adnan al-Aroor and Abu Basir al-Tartusi, say that ISIS and related terrorist groups are not Sunnis, but modern-day Kharijites—Muslims who have stepped outside the mainstream of Islam—serving an imperial anti-Islamic agenda.[110][111][112][113] Other critics of ISIS's brand of Sunni Islam include Salafists who previously publicly supported jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda, for example the Saudi government official Saleh Al-Fawzan who claims that ISIS is a creation of “Zionists, Crusaders and Safavids”, and the Jordanian-Palestinian writer Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi who was released from prison in Jordan in June 2014.[113]

Salafists such as ISIS believe that only a legitimate authority can undertake the leadership of jihad, and that the first priority over other areas of combat, such as fighting non-Muslim countries, is the purification of Islamic society. For example, when it comes to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, since ISIS regards the Palestinian Sunni group Hamas as apostates who have no legitimate authority to lead jihad, it regards fighting Hamas as the first step toward confrontation with Israel.[114][115]

Goals

Since 2004, the group's goal has been the foundation of an Islamic state in the Levant.[116][117] Specifically, ISIS seeks the establishment of a caliphate, a type of Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader—caliph—who is believed to be the successor to Mohammed.[118] In June 2014, ISIS published a document which it claimed linked ISIS's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to the prophet.[118] That same month, ISIS removed "Iraq and the Levant" from its name and began to refer to itself as the Islamic State, declaring the territory that it occupied in Iraq and Syria a new caliphate and naming al-Baghdadi as its caliph.[5] By declaring a caliphate, al-Baghdadi was demanding the allegiance of all devout Muslims according to Islamic jurisprudence—fiqh.[119] ISIS has also stated: "The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the khilafah's [caliphate's] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas."[118] ISIS thus rejects the political divisions established by Western powers at the end of World War I in the Sykes–Picot Agreement as it absorbs territory in Syria and Iraq.[120][121][122]

Territorial claims

On 13 October 2006, the group announced the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq, which claimed authority over the Iraqi governorates of Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Nineveh and parts of Babil.[88] Following the 2013 expansion of the group into Syria and the announcement of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the number of wilayah—provinces—which it claimed increased to 16. In addition to the seven Iraqi wilayah, the Syrian divisions, largely lying along existing provincial boundaries, are Al Barakah, Al Kheir, Ar-Raqqah, Al Badiya, Halab, Idlib, Hama, Damascus and the Coast.[123] After taking control of both sides of the border in mid-2014, ISIS created a new province incorporating both Syrian territory around Albu Kamal and Iraqi territory around Qaim. This new wilayah was designated al-Furat.[124] In Syria, ISIS's seat of power is in Ar-Raqqah Governorate. Top ISIS leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, are known to have visited its provincial capital, Ar-Raqqah.[123]

ISIS Control Plan

Governance

British security expert Frank Gardner concluded that the group's prospects of maintaining control and rule were greater in 2014 than they had been in 2006. Despite being as brutal as before, ISIS has become "well entrenched" among the population and is not likely to be dislodged by ineffective Syrian or Iraqi forces. It has replaced corrupt governance with functioning locally-controlled authorities. Services have been restored and there are adequate supplies of water and oil. With Western-backed intervention being unlikely, the group will "continue to hold their ground" and rule an area "the size of Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future", he said.[125][126]

Ar-Raqqah in Syria is the de facto capital of the Islamic State. It is said to be a "test case" or "show case" of ISIS governance.[127] As of September 2014, governance in Ar-Raqqah is under the total control of ISIS, where it has rebuilt the structure of modern government in less than a year. Former government workers from the Assad regime maintain their jobs after pledging allegiance to ISIS. Institutions, restored and restructured, are providing services. The Ar-Raqqah dam continues to provide electricity and water. Foreign expertise supplements Syrian officials in running civilian institutions. Only the police and soldiers are ISIS fighters, who receive confiscated lodging previously owned by non-Sunnis and others who fled. Welfare services are provided, price controls established, and taxes imposed on the wealthy. Exporting oil from oilfields that it has captured brings in tens of millions of dollars.[126][128] ISIS runs a soft power program in the areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, which includes social services, religious lectures and da'wah—proselytizing—to local populations. It also performs public services such as repairing roads and maintaining the electricity supply.[129]

Analysis

After significant setbacks for the group during the latter stages of the coalition forces' presence in Iraq, by late 2012 it was thought to have renewed its strength and more than doubled the number of its members to about 2,500,[130] and since its formation in April 2013, ISIS grew rapidly in strength and influence in Iraq and Syria. In June 2014, The Economist reported that "ISIS may have up to 6,000 fighters in Iraq and 3,000–5,000 in Syria, including perhaps 3,000 foreigners; nearly a thousand are reported to hail from Chechnya and perhaps 500 or so more from France, Britain and elsewhere in Europe".[131] According to the The New York Times, among the foreign fighters of ISIS there are more than 100 Americans.[132] Chechen fighter Abu Omar al-Shishani, for example, was made commander of the northern sector of ISIS in Syria in 2013.[133][134]

Analysts have underlined the deliberate inflammation of sectarian conflict between Iraqi Shias and Sunnis during the Iraq War by various Sunni and Shia players as the root cause of ISIS's rise. The post-invasion policies of the international coalition forces have also been cited as a factor, with Fanar Haddad, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute, blaming the coalition forces during the Iraq War for "enshrining identity politics as the key marker of Iraqi politics".[135]

By 2014, ISIS was increasingly being viewed as a militia rather than a terrorist group by some organizations.[136] As major Iraqi cities fell to al-Baghdadi's cohorts in June, Jessica Lewis, a former US army intelligence officer at the Institute for the Study of War, described ISIS as "not a terrorism problem anymore", but rather "an army on the move in Iraq and Syria, and they are taking terrain. They have shadow governments in and around Baghdad, and they have an aspirational goal to govern. I don't know whether they want to control Baghdad, or if they want to destroy the functions of the Iraqi state, but either way the outcome will be disastrous for Iraq." Lewis has called ISIS "an advanced military leadership". She said, "They have incredible command and control and they have a sophisticated reporting mechanism from the field that can relay tactics and directives up and down the line. They are well-financed, and they have big sources of manpower, not just the foreign fighters, but also prisoner escapees."[136]

According to the Institute for the Study of War, ISIS's 2013 annual report reveals a metrics-driven military command, which is "a strong indication of a unified, coherent leadership structure that commands from the top down".[137] Middle East Forum's Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi said, "They are highly skilled in urban guerrilla warfare while the new Iraqi Army simply lacks tactical competence."[136] Seasoned observers point to systemic corruption within the Iraq Army, it being little more than a system of patronage, and have attributed to this its spectacular collapse as ISIS and its allies took over large swaths of Iraq in June 2014.[138]

While officials fear ISIS may either inspire attacks in the United States by sympathizers or those returning after joining ISIS, American intelligence agencies find there is no immediate threat or specific plots. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sees an “imminent threat to every interest we have.” Daniel Benjamin, former top counterterrorism adviser, derides such alarmist talk as a “farce” that panics the public.[139]

Hillary Clinton stated: "The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad—there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle—the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled."[140]

Propaganda and social media

The logo of Al-Hayat Media Center

ISIS is also known for its effective use of propaganda.[141] In November 2006, shortly after the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq, the group established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products.[142] ISIS's main media outlet is the I'tisaam Media Foundation,[143] which was formed in March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF).[144] In 2014, ISIS established the Al Hayat Media Center, which targets a Western audience and produces material in English, German, Russian and French.[145][146] In 2014 it also launched the Ajnad Media Foundation, which releases jihadist audio chants.[147]

In July 2014, ISIS began publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq in multiple languages, including English. According to the magazine, its name is taken from the town in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith about Armageddon.[148] Harleen K. Gambhir, of the Institute for the Study of War, found that while al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine focused on encouraging its readers to carry out lone-wolf attacks on the West, Dabiq is more concerned with establishing the religious legitimacy of ISIS and its self-proclaimed caliphate, and encouraging Muslims to emigrate there.[149]

ISIS's use of social media has been described by one expert as "probably more sophisticated than [that of] most US companies".[150][151] It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organizing hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, and utilizing software applications that enable ISIS propaganda to be distributed to its supporters' accounts.[152] Another comment is that "ISIS puts more emphasis on social media than other jihadi groups. ... They have a very coordinated social media presence."[153] In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIS. ISIS recreated and publicized new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter administrators.[154] The group has attempted to branch out into alternate social media sites, such as Quitter, Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however, almost immediately worked to remove ISIS's presence from their sites.[155] ISIS released some special videos to influence Muslim youths in the Indian subcontinent. Reportedly two youths from Thane and four from Mumbai joined ISIS from India.[156] After finding this to be a genuine report the Indian Government has introduced measures to stop youths joining ISIS[citation needed]. Four youths from Hyderabad were caught in Kolkata while flying to Syria to join ISIS.

On 19 August 2014, a propaganda video showing the beheading of US photojournalist James Foley was posted on the Internet. ISIS claimed that the killing had been carried out in revenge for the US bombing of ISIS targets. The video promised that a second captured US journalist Steven Sotloff would be killed next if the airstrikes continued.[157] On September 2, 2014, ISIS released a video purportedly showing their beheading of Sotloff.[158] In the video the executioner says, "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." [159] The next scene shows the same executioner holding the orange jumpsuit of another prisoner, and saying "We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone."[159][160] On September 13, 2014, ISIS released another similar video purportedly depicting the beheading of David C. Haines, a British aid worker they had been holding hostage.[161]

Finances

A study of 200 documents—personal letters, expense reports and membership rosters—captured from Al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq was carried out by the RAND Corporation in 2014.[162] It found that from 2005 until 2010, outside donations amounted to only 5% of the group’s operating budgets, with the rest being raised within Iraq.[162] In the time-period studied, cells were required to send up to 20% of the income generated from kidnapping, extortion rackets and other activities to the next level of the group's leadership. Higher-ranking commanders would then redistribute the funds to provincial or local cells that were in difficulties or needed money to conduct attacks.[162] The records show that the Islamic State of Iraq was dependent on members from Mosul for cash, which the leadership used to provide additional funds to struggling militants in Diyala, Salahuddin and Baghdad.[162]

In mid-2014, Iraqi intelligence extracted information from an ISIS operative which revealed that the organization had assets worth US$2 billion,[163] making it the richest jihadist group in the world.[164] About three quarters of this sum is said to be represented by assets seized after the group captured Mosul in June 2014; this includes possibly up to US$429 million looted from Mosul's central bank, along with additional millions and a large quantity of gold bullion stolen from a number of other banks in Mosul.[165][166] However, doubt was later cast on whether ISIS was able to retrieve anywhere near that sum from the central bank,[167] and even on whether the bank robberies had actually occurred.[168]

ISIS has routinely practised extortion, by demanding money from truck drivers and threatening to blow up businesses, for example. Robbing banks and gold shops has been another source of income.[169] The group is widely reported as receiving funding from private donors in the Gulf states,[170][171] and both Iran and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding ISIS,[172][173][174][175] although there is reportedly no evidence that this is the case.[175][176][177][178]

The group is also believed to receive considerable funds from its operations in Eastern Syria, where it has commandeered oilfields and engages in smuggling out raw materials and archaeological artifacts.[179][180] ISIS also generates revenue from producing crude oil and selling electric power in northern Syria. Some of this electricity is reportedly sold back to the Syrian government.[181]

Since 2012, ISIS has produced annual reports giving numerical information on its operations, somewhat in the style of corporate reports, seemingly in a bid to encourage potential donors.[150][182]

Equipment

The most common weapons used against US and other Coalition forces during the Iraq insurgency were those taken from Saddam Hussein's weapon stockpiles around the country, these included AKM variant assault rifles, PK machine guns and RPG-7s.[183] ISIS has been able to strengthen its military capability by capturing large quantities and varieties of weaponry during the Syrian Civil War and Post-US Iraq insurgency. These weapons seizures have improved the group's capacity to carry out successful subsequent operations and obtain more equipment.[184] Weaponry that ISIS has reportedly captured and employed include SA-7[185] and Stinger[186] surface-to-air missiles, M79 Osa, HJ-8[187] and AT-4 Spigot[185] anti-tank weapons, Type 59 field guns[187] and M198 howitzers,[188] Humvees, T-54/55, T-72, and M1 Abrams[189]main battle tanks,[187] M1117 armoured cars,[190] truck mounted DShK guns,[185] ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns,[191][192] BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers[184] and at least one Scud missile.[193]

When ISIS captured Mosul Airport in June 2014, it seized a number of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and cargo planes that were stationed there.[194][195] However, according to Peter Beaumont of The Guardian, it seemed unlikely that ISIS would be able to deploy them.[196]

ISIS captured nuclear materials from Mosul University in July 2014. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said that the materials had been kept at the university and "can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction". Nuclear experts regarded the threat as insignificant. International Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Gill Tudor said that the seized materials were "low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk".[197][198]

History

As Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999–2004)

Main article: Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad

A screenshot from the 2004 hostage video, where Nick Berg was beheaded by JTJ fighters.

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (abrreviated JTJ or shortened to Tawhid and Jihad, Tawhid wal-Jihad, sometimes Tawhid al-Jihad, Al Tawhid or Tawhid) was started in 1999 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and a combination of foreigners and local Islamist sympathizers.[71] Al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian Salafi Jihadist who had traveled to Afghanistan to fight in the Soviet-Afghan War, but he arrived after the departure of the Soviet troops and soon returned to his homeland. He eventually returned to Afghanistan, running an Islamic militant training camp near Herat.

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, JTJ developed into an expanding militant network for the purpose of resisting the coalition occupation forces and their Iraqi allies. It included some remnants of Ansar al-Islam and a growing number of foreign fighters. Many foreign fighters arriving in Iraq were initially not associated with the group, but once they were in the country they became dependent on al-Zarqawi's local contacts.[199]

As Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (2004–2006)

Main article: Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn

Involvement in Iraqi Insurgency

US Navy Seabees in Fallujah, November 2004.

The group officially pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in a letter in October 2004 and changed its official name to Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (تنظيم قاعدة الجهاد في بلاد الرافدين, "Organization of Jihad's Base in Mesopotamia").[21][200][201] That same month, the group, now popularly referred to as Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), kidnapped and killed Japanese citizen Shosei Koda. In November, al-Zarqawi's network was the main target of the US Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, but its leadership managed to escape the American siege and subsequent storming of the city. In December, in two of its many sectarian attacks, AQI bombed a Shia funeral procession in Najaf and the main bus station in nearby Karbala, killing at least 60 people in those two holy cities of Shia Islam. The group also reportedly took responsibility for the 30 September 2004 Baghdad bombing which killed 41 people, mostly children.[202]

In 2005, AQI largely focused on executing high-profile and coordinated suicide attacks, claiming responsibility for numerous attacks which were primarily aimed at Iraqi administrators. The group launched attacks on voters during the Iraqi legislative election in January, a combined suicide and conventional attack on the Abu Ghraib prison in April, and coordinated suicide attacks outside the Sheraton Ishtar and Palestine Hotel in Baghdad in October.[203] In July, AQI claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and execution of Ihab Al-Sherif, Egypt's envoy to Iraq.[204][205] Also in July, a three-day series of suicide attacks, including the Musayyib marketplace bombing, left at least 150 people dead.[206] Al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for a single-day series of more than a dozen bombings in Baghdad in September, including a bomb attack on 14 September which killed about 160 people, most of whom were unemployed Shia workers.[207] They claimed responsibility for a series of mosque bombings in the same month in the city of Khanaqin, which killed at least 74 people.[208]

The attacks blamed on or claimed by AQI continued to increase in 2006 (see also the list of major resistance attacks in Iraq).[209] In one of the incidents, two US soldiers—Thomas Lowell Tucker and Kristian Menchaca—were captured, tortured and beheaded by the ISI. In another, four Russian embassy officials were abducted and subsequently killed. Iraq's al-Qaeda and its umbrella groups were blamed for multiple attacks targeting the country's Shia population, some of which AQI claimed responsibility for. The US claimed without verification that the group was at least one of the forces behind the wave of chlorine bombings in Iraq, which affected hundreds of people, albeit with few fatalities, after a series of crude chemical warfare attacks between late 2006 and mid-2007.[210] During 2006, several key members of AQI were killed or captured by American and allied forces. This included al-Zarqawi himself, killed on 7 June 2006, his spiritual adviser Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman, and the alleged "number two" deputy leader, Hamid Juma Faris Jouri al-Saeedi. The group's leadership was then assumed by a man called Abu Hamza al-Muhajir,[211] who in reality was the Egyptian militant Abu Ayyub al-Masri.[212]

Car bombings were a common form of attack in Iraq during the Coalition occupation

Inciting sectarian violence

Attacks against militiamen often targeted the Iraqi Shia majority in an attempt to incite sectarian violence.[213] Al-Zarqawi purportedly declared an all-out war on Shias[207] while claiming responsibility for the Shia mosque bombings.[208] The same month, a letter allegedly written by al-Zawahiri—later rejected as a "fake" by the AQI—appeared to question the insurgents' tactic of indiscriminately attacking Shias in Iraq.[214] In a video that appeared in December 2007, al-Zawahiri defended the AQI, but distanced himself from the crimes against civilians committed by "hypocrites and traitors" that he said existed among its ranks.[215]

US and Iraqi officials accused the AQI of trying to slide Iraq into a full-scale civil war between Iraq's majority Shia and minority Sunni Arabs via an orchestrated campaign of militiamen massacres and a number of provocative attacks against high-profile religious targets.[216] With attacks purportedly mounted by the AQI such as the Imam Ali Mosque bombing in 2003, the Day of Ashura bombings and Karbala and Najaf bombings in 2004, the first al-Askari Mosque bombing in Samarra in 2006, the deadly single-day series of bombings in November 2006 in which at least 215 people were killed in Baghdad's Shia district of Sadr City, and the second al-Askari bombing in 2007, the AQI provoked Shia militias to unleash a wave of retaliatory attacks. The result was a plague of death squad-style killings and a spiral into further sectarian violence, which escalated in 2006 and brought Iraq to the brink of violent anarchy in 2007.[217] In 2008, sectarian bombings blamed on al-Qaeda killed at least 42 people at the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala in March and at least 51 people at a bus stop in Baghdad in June.

Operations outside Iraq and other activities

On 3 December 2004, AQI attempted to blow up an Iraqi–Jordanian border crossing, but failed to do so. In 2006, a Jordanian court sentenced to death al-Zarqawi in absentia and two of his associates for their involvement in the plot.[218] AQI increased its presence outside Iraq by claiming credit for three attacks in 2005. In the most deadly of these attacks, suicide bombs killed 60 people in Amman, Jordan on 9 November 2005.[219] They claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks that narrowly missed the USS Kearsarge and USS Ashland in Jordan, which also targeted the city of Eilat in Israel, and for the firing of several rockets into Israel from Lebanon in December 2005.[203]

The Lebanese-Palestinian militant group Fatah al-Islam, which was defeated by Lebanese government forces during the 2007 Lebanon conflict, was linked to AQI and led by al-Zarqawi's former companion who had fought alongside him in Iraq.[220] The group may have been linked to the little-known group called "Tawhid and Jihad in Syria",[221] and may have influenced the Palestinian resistance group in Gaza called "Tawhid and Jihad Brigades", better known as the Army of Islam.[222]

American officials believed that Al-Qaeda in Iraq had conducted bomb attacks against Syrian government forces.[223][224][225] Al-Nusra Front, another al-Qaeda-inspired group, claimed responsibility for attacks inside Syria, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Al-Qaeda in Iraq members were going to Syria, where the militants had previously received support and weapons.[226]

Goals and umbrella organizations

See also: Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)

In a letter to Ayman al-Zawahiri in July 2005, al-Zarqawi outlined a four-stage plan to expand the Iraq War, which included expelling US forces from Iraq, establishing an Islamic authority—a caliphate—spreading the conflict to Iraq's secular neighbors, and engaging in the Arab–Israeli conflict.[203] The affiliated groups were linked to regional attacks outside Iraq which were consistent with their stated plan, one example being the 2005 Sharm al-Sheikh bombings in Egypt, which killed 88 people, many of them foreign tourists.

In January 2006, Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)—the name by which Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn was more commonly known—created an umbrella organization called the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC), in an attempt to unify Sunni insurgents in Iraq. Its efforts to recruit Iraqi Sunni nationalists and secular groups were undermined by the violent tactics it used against civilians and its extreme Islamic fundamentalist doctrine.[227] Because of these impediments, the attempt was largely unsuccessful.[217]

On 13 October 2006, the MSC declared the establishment of an Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), comprising Iraq's six mostly Sunni Arab governorates, with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi being announced as the self-proclaimed state's Emir.[88][209]Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who had been the leader of the MSC, was given the title of Minister of War within the ISI's ten-member cabinet.[228] Following the announcement, scores of gunmen took part in military parades in Ramadi and other Anbar towns to celebrate.[229][230]

According to a study compiled by US intelligence agencies in early 2007, the ISI planned to seize power in the central and western areas of the country and turn it into a Sunni Islamic state.[231]

As Islamic State of Iraq (2006–2013)

Strength and activity

US Marines in Ramadi, May 2006. The Islamic State of Iraq had declared the city to be its capital.

In 2006, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research estimated that Al-Qaeda in Iraq's core membership was "more than 1,000".[232] These figures do not include the other six[233][irrelevant citation] AQI-led Salafi groups in the Islamic State of Iraq. In 2007 estimates of the group's strength ranged from just 850 to several thousand full-time fighters.[232][234] The group was said to be suffering high manpower losses, including those from its many "martyrdom" operations, but for a long time this appeared to have little effect on its strength and capabilities, implying a constant flow of volunteers from Iraq and abroad. However, Al-Qaeda in Iraq more than doubled in strength, from 1,000 to 2,500 fighters, after the US withdrawal from Iraq in late 2011.[235]

In 2007, some observers and scholars suggested that the threat posed by AQI was being exaggerated and that a "heavy focus on al-Qaeda obscures a much more complicated situation on the ground".[236][237] According to the July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate and the Defense Intelligence Agency reports, AQI accounted for 15% percent of attacks in Iraq. However, the Congressional Research Service noted in its September 2007 report that attacks from al-Qaeda were less than 2% of the violence in Iraq. It criticized the Bush administration's statistics, noting that its false reporting of insurgency attacks as AQI attacks had increased since the surge operations began in 2007.[232][238] In March 2007, the US-sponsored Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty analyzed AQI attacks for that month and concluded that the group had taken credit for 43 out of 439 attacks on Iraqi security forces and Shia militias, and 17 out of 357 attacks on US troops.[232]

According to the 2006 US Government report, this group was most clearly associated with foreign jihadist cells operating in Iraq and had specifically targeted international forces and Iraqi citizens; most of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)'s operatives were not Iraqi, but were coming through a series of safe houses, the largest of which was on the Iraq–Syria border. AQI's operations were predominately Iraq-based, but the United States Department of State alleged that the group maintained an extensive logistical network throughout the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Europe.[239] In a June 2008 CNN special report, Al-Qaeda in Iraq was called "a well-oiled … organization … almost as pedantically bureaucratic as was Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party", collecting new execution videos long after they stopped publicising them, and having a network of spies even in the US military bases. According to the report, Iraqis—many of them former members of Hussein's secret services—were now effectively running Al-Qaeda in Iraq, with "foreign fighters' roles" seeming to be "mostly relegated to the cannon fodder of suicide attacks", although the organization's top leadership was still dominated by non-Iraqis.[240]

Decline

The high-profile attacks linked to the group continued through early 2007, as AQI claimed responsibility for attacks such as the March assassination attempt on Sunni Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Salam al-Zaubai, the April Iraqi Parliament bombing, and the May capture and subsequent execution of three American soldiers. Also in May, ISI leader al-Baghdadi was declared to have been killed in Baghdad, but his death was later denied by the insurgents; later, al-Baghdadi was even declared by the US to be non-existent. There were conflicting reports regarding the fate of al-Masri. From March to August, coalition forces fought the Battle of Baqubah as part of the largely successful attempts to wrest the Diyala Governorate from AQI-aligned forces. Through 2007, the majority of suicide bombings targeting civilians in Iraq were routinely identified by military and government sources as being the responsibility of al-Qaeda and its associated groups, even when there was no claim of responsibility, as was the case in the 2007 Yazidi communities bombings, which killed some 800 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in Iraq to date.

ISIS Troops

By late 2007, violent and indiscriminate attacks directed by rogue AQI elements against Iraqi civilians had severely damaged their image and caused loss of support among the population, thus isolating the group. In a major blow to AQI, many former Sunni militants who had previously fought alongside the group started to work with the American forces (see also below). The US troops surge supplied the military with more manpower for operations targeting the group, resulting in dozens of high-level AQI members being captured or killed.[241] Al-Qaeda seemed to have lost its foothold in Iraq and appeared to be severely crippled.[242] Accordingly, the bounty issued for al-Masri was eventually cut from $5 million to $100,000 in April 2008.[243]

As of 2008, a series of US and Iraqi offensives managed to drive out the AQI-aligned insurgents from their former safe havens, such as the Diyala and Al Anbar governorates and the embattled capital of Baghdad, to the area of the northern city of Mosul, the latest of the Iraq War's major battlegrounds.[243] The struggle for control of Ninawa Governorate—the Ninawa campaign—was launched in January 2008 by US and Iraqi forces as part of the large-scale Operation Phantom Phoenix, which was aimed at combating al-Qaeda activity in and around Mosul, and finishing off the network's remnants in central Iraq that had escaped Operation Phantom Thunder in 2007. In Baghdad a pet market was bombed in February 2008 and a shopping centre was bombed in March 2008, killing at least 98 and 68 people respectively; AQI were the suspected perpetrators.

US soldiers and Sunni Arab tribesmen scan for enemy activity in a farm field in southern Arab Jibor, January 2008

AQI has long raised money, running into tens of millions of dollars, from kidnappings for ransom, car theft—sometimes killing drivers in the process—hijacking fuel trucks and other activities.[243] According to an April 2007 statement by their Islamic Army in Iraq rivals, AQI was demanding jizya tax and killing members of wealthy families when it was not paid.[244] According to both US and Iraqi sources, in May 2008 AQI was stepping up its fundraising campaigns as its strictly militant capabilities were on the wane, with especially lucrative activity said to be oil operations centered on the industrial city of Bayji. According to US military intelligence sources, in 2008 the group resembled a "Mafia-esque criminal gang".[243]

Conflicts with other groups

See also: Awakening movements in Iraq and Islamic Army-al-Qaeda conflict

The first reports of a split and even armed clashes between Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni groups date back to 2005.[245][246] In the summer of 2006, local Sunni tribes and insurgent groups, including the prominent Islamist-nationalist group Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI), began to speak of their dissatisfaction with al-Qaeda and its tactics,[247] openly criticizing the foreign fighters for their deliberate targeting of Iraqi civilians. In September 2006, 30 Anbar tribes formed their own local alliance called the Anbar Salvation Council (ASC), which was directed specifically at countering al-Qaeda-allied terrorist forces in the province,[248][249] and they openly sided with the government and the US troops.[250]

By the beginning of 2007, Sunni tribes and nationalist insurgents had begun battling with their former allies in AQI in order to retake control of their communities.[251] In early 2007, forces allied to Al-Qaeda in Iraq committed a series of attacks on Sunnis critical of the group, including the February 2007 attack in which scores of people were killed when a truck bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in Fallujah.[252] Al-Qaeda supposedly played a role in the assassination of the leader of the Anbar-based insurgent group 1920 Revolution Brigade, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement.[253] In April 2007, the IAI spokesman accused the ISI of killing at least 30 members of the IAI, as well as members of the Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna and Mujahideen Army insurgent groups, and called on Osama bin Laden to intervene personally to rein in Al-Qaeda in Iraq.[244][254] The following month, the government announced that AQI leader al-Masri had been killed by ASC fighters.[212][216] Four days later, AQI released an audio tape in which a man claiming to be al-Masri warned Sunnis not to take part in the political process; he also said that reports of internal fighting between Sunni militia groups were "lies and fabrications".[255] Later in May, the US forces announced the release of dozens of Iraqis who were tortured by AQI as a part of the group's intimidation campaign.[256]

By June 2007, the growing hostility between foreign-influenced jihadists and Sunni nationalists had led to open gun battles between the groups in Baghdad.[257][258] The Islamic Army soon reached a ceasefire agreement with AQI, but refused to sign on to the ISI.[259] There were reports that Hamas of Iraq insurgents were involved in assisting US troops in their Diyala Governorate operations against Al-Qaeda in August 2007. In September 2007, AQI claimed responsibility for the assassination of three people including the prominent Sunni sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, leader of the Anbar "Awakening council". That same month, a suicide attack on a mosque in the city of Baqubah killed 28 people, including members of Hamas of Iraq and the 1920 Revolution Brigade, during a meeting at the mosque between tribal and guerilla leaders and the police.[260] Meanwhile, the US military began arming moderate insurgent factions when they promised to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq instead of the Americans.[261]

By December 2007, the strength of the "Awakening" movement irregulars—also called "Concerned Local Citizens" and "Sons of Iraq"—was estimated at 65,000–80,000 fighters.[262] Many of them were former insurgents, including alienated former AQI supporters, and they were now being armed and paid by the Americans specifically to combat al-Qaeda's presence in Iraq. As of July 2007, this highly controversial strategy proved to be effective in helping to secure the Sunni districts of Baghdad and the other hotspots of central Iraq, and to root out the al-Qaeda-aligned militants.

By 2008, the ISI was describing itself as being in a state of "extraordinary crisis",[263] which was attributable to a number of factors,[264] notably the Anbar Awakening.

Transformation and resurgence

In early 2009, US forces began pulling out of cities across the country, turning over the task of maintaining security to the Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Police Service and their paramilitary allies. Experts and many Iraqis were worried that in the absence of US soldiers the ISI might resurface and attempt mass-casualty attacks to destabilize the country.[265] There was indeed a spike in the number of suicide attacks,[266] and through mid- and late 2009, the ISI rebounded in strength and appeared to be launching a concerted effort to cripple the Iraqi government.[267] During August and October 2009, the ISI claimed responsibility for four bombings targeting five government buildings in Baghdad, including attacks that killed 101 at the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance in August and 155 at the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works in September; these were the deadliest attacks directed at the new government in more than six years of war. These attacks represented a shift away from the group's previous efforts to incite sectarian violence, although a series of suicide attacks in April targeted mainly Iranian Shia pilgrims, killing 76, and in June, a mosque bombing in Taza killed at least 73 Shias from the Turkmen ethnic minority.

In late 2009, the commander of the US forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, stated that the ISI "has transformed significantly in the last two years. What once was dominated by foreign individuals has now become more and more dominated by Iraqi citizens". Odierno's comments reinforced accusations by the government of Nouri al-Maliki that al-Qaeda and ex-Ba'athists were working together to undermine improved security and sabotage the planned Iraqi parliamentary elections in 2010.[268] On 18 April 2010, the ISI’s two top leaders, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, were killed in a joint US-Iraqi raid near Tikrit.[269] In a press conference in June 2010, General Odierno reported that 80% of the ISI’s top 42 leaders, including recruiters and financiers, had been killed or captured, with only eight remaining at large. He said that they had been cut off from Al Qaeda's leadership in Pakistan, and that improved intelligence had enabled the successful mission in April that led to the killing of al-Masri and al-Baghdadi; in addition, the number of attacks and casualty figures in Iraq for the first five months of 2010 were the lowest since 2003.[270][271][272] In May 2011, the Islamic State of Iraq's "emir of Baghdad" Huthaifa al-Batawi, captured during the crackdown after the 2010 Baghdad church attack in which 68 people died, was killed during an attempted prison break, during which an Iraqi general and several others were also killed.[273][274]

On 16 May 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was appointed the new leader of the Islamic State of Iraq;[275] he had previously been the general supervisor of the group's provincial sharia committees and a member of its senior consultative council.[276] Al-Baghdadi replenished the group's leadership, many of whom had been killed or captured, by appointing former Ba'athist military and intelligence officers who had served during the Saddam Hussein regime. These men, nearly all of whom had spent time imprisoned by American forces, came to make up about one-third of Baghdadi's top 25 commanders. One of them was a former Colonel, Samir al-Khlifawi, also known as Haji Bakr, who became the overall military commander in charge of overseeing the group's operations.[277][278]

In July 2012, al-Baghdadi’s first audio statement was released online. In this he announced that the group was returning to the former strongholds that US troops and their Sunni allies had driven them from prior to the withdrawal of US troops.[279] He also declared the start of a new offensive in Iraq called Breaking the Walls which would focus on freeing members of the group held in Iraqi prisons.[279] Violence in Iraq began to escalate that month, and in the following year the group carried out 24 waves of VBIED attacks and eight prison breaks. By July 2013, monthly fatalities had exceeded 1,000 for the first time since April 2008.[280] The Breaking the Walls campaign culminated in July 2013, with the group carrying out simultaneous raids on Taji and Abu Ghraib prison, freeing more than 500 prisoners, many of them veterans of the Iraqi insurgency.[280][281]

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on 4 October 2011 by the US State Department, with an announced reward of US$10 million for information leading to his capture or death.[282]

As Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013–2014)

Declaration and dispute with al-Nusra Front

In March 2011, protests began in Syria against the government of Bashar al-Assad. In the following months, violence between demonstrators and security forces led to a gradual militarisation of the conflict.[283] In August 2011, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi began sending Syrian and Iraqi ISI members, experienced in guerilla warfare, across the border into Syria to establish an organization inside the country. Led by a Syrian known as Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, the group began to recruit fighters and establish cells throughout the country.[284][285] On 23 January 2012, the group announced its formation as Jabhat al-Nusra li Ahl as-Sham—Jabhat al-Nusra—more commonly known as al-Nusra Front. Al-Nusra grew rapidly into a capable fighting force with popular support among Syrian opposition.[284]

In April 2013, al-Baghdadi released an audio statement in which he announced that al-Nusra Front had been established, financed and supported by the Islamic State of Iraq[286] and that the two groups were merging under the name "Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham".[91] Al-Jawlani issued a statement denying the merger and complaining that neither he nor anyone else in al-Nusra's leadership had been consulted about it.[287] In June 2013, Al Jazeera reported that it had obtained a letter written by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, addressed to both leaders, in which he ruled against the merger, and appointed an emissary to oversee relations between them to put an end to tensions.[288] In the same month, al-Baghdadi released an audio message rejecting al-Zawahiri's ruling and declaring that the merger was going ahead.[289] In October 2013, al-Zawahiri ordered the disbanding of ISIS, putting al-Nusra Front in charge of jihadist efforts in Syria,[290] but al-Baghdadi contested al-Zawahiri's ruling on the basis of Islamic jurisprudence,[289] and the group continued to operate in Syria. In February 2014, after an eight-month power struggle, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIS.[81]

According to journalist Sarah Birke, there are "significant differences" between al-Nusra Front and ISIS. While al-Nusra actively calls for the overthrow of the Assad government, ISIS "tends to be more focused on establishing its own rule on conquered territory". ISIS is "far more ruthless" in building an Islamic state, "carrying out sectarian attacks and imposing sharia law immediately". While al-Nusra has a "large contingent of foreign fighters", it is seen as a home-grown group by many Syrians; by contrast, ISIS fighters have been described as "foreign 'occupiers'" by many Syrian refugees.[291] It has a strong presence in central and northern Syria, where it has instituted sharia in a number of towns.[291] The group reportedly controlled the four border towns of Atmeh, al-Bab, Azaz and Jarablus, allowing it to control the entrance and exit from Syria into Turkey.[291] Foreign fighters in Syria include Russian-speaking jihadists who were part of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA).[292] In November 2013, the JMA's ethnic Chechen leader Abu Omar al-Shishani swore an oath of allegiance to al-Baghdadi;[293] the group then split between those who followed al-Shishani in joining ISIS and those who continued to operate independently in the JMA under a new leadership.[14]

In May 2014, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ordered al-Nusra Front to stop attacks on its rival ISIS.[31] In June 2014, after continued fighting between the two groups, al-Nusra's branch in the Syrian town of al-Bukamal pledged allegiance to ISIS.[294][295]

Conflicts with other groups

See also: Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War

In Syria, rebels affiliated with the Islamic Front and the Free Syrian Army launched an offensive against ISIS militants in and around Aleppo in January 2014.[296][297]

Relations with the Syrian government

In January 2014, The Daily Telegraph said that Western "intelligence sources" believed that the Syrian government made secret oil deals with ISIS and al-Nusra Front, alleging that the militants were funding their campaign by selling crude oil to the regime from the fields they have captured.[298]

As Islamic State (2014–present)

On 29 June 2014, ISIS removed "Iraq and the Levant" from its name and began to refer to itself as the Islamic State, declaring the territory under its control a new caliphate and naming Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its caliph.[5] On the first night of Ramadan, Shaykh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani al-Shami, spokesperson for ISIS, described the establishment of the caliphate as "a dream that lives in the depths of every Muslim believer" and "the abandoned obligation of the era". He said that the group's ruling Shura Council had decided to establish the caliphate formally and that Muslims around the world should now pledge their allegiance to the new caliph.[299][300] The declaration of a caliphate has been criticized and ridiculed by Muslim scholars and rival Islamists inside and outside the occupied territory.[301][302][303][304][305][306]

By that time, many moderate rebels had been assimilated into the group. In August 2014, a high-level IS commander said that "In the East of Syria, there is no Free Syrian Army any longer. All Free Syrian Army people [there] have joined the Islamic State".[307] The Islamic State had recruited more than 6,300 fighters in July 2014 alone, many of them coming from the Free Syrian Army.[308]

Analysts observed that dropping the reference to region reflected a widening of the group's scope, and Laith Alkhouri, a terrorism analyst, thought that after capturing many areas in Syria and Iraq, ISIS felt this was a suitable opportunity to take control of the global jihadist movement.[309]

A week before it changed its name to the Islamic State, ISIS had captured the Trabil crossing on the Jordan–Iraq border,[310] the only border crossing between the two countries.[311] ISIS has received some public support in Jordan, albeit limited, partly owing to state repression there.[312] Raghad Hussein, the daughter of Saddam Hussein now living in opulent asylum in Jordan, has publicly expressed support for the advance of ISIS in Iraq, reflecting the Ba'athist alliance of convenience with ISIS with the goal of return to power in Bagdad.[313] ISIS undertook a recruitment drive in Saudi Arabia[176] where tribes in the north are linked to those in western Iraq and eastern Syria.[314]

In June and July 2014, Jordan and Saudi Arabia moved their troops to the borders with Iraq after Iraq lost control of, or withdrew from, the strategic crossing points that came under the control of ISIS.[61][311] There was speculation that al-Maliki had ordered a withdrawal of troops from the Iraq–Saudi crossings in order "to increase pressure on Saudi Arabia and bring the threat of Isis over-running its borders as well".[314]

After the group captured Kurdish-controlled territory[315] and massacred Yazidis,[316] the US launched a humanitarian mission and aerial bombing campaign against ISIS.[317][318]

In July 2014, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau declared support for the new Calpihate and Caliph Ibrahim.[23] In August, Shekau announced that Boko Haram had captured the Nigerian town of Gwoza. Shekau announced: "Thanks be to God who gave victory to our brethren in Gwoza and made it a state among the Islamic states".[319][320] Boko Haram launched an offensive in Adamawa and Borno States in northeastern Nigeria in September, following the example of the Islamic State.[321]

The moderate Free Syrian Army rebels have been backed by the United States with weapons and training.[322][323] On 12 September 2014, the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and the Islamic State signed a "non-aggression" agreement.[324]

Human rights abuses

In early September 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to send a team to Iraq and Syria to investigate the abuses and killings being carried out by the Islamic State on "an unimaginable scale". Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein of Jordan, who has taken over Navi Pillay's post as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged world leaders to step in to protect women and children suffering at the hands of Islamic State militants, who he said were trying to create a "house of blood". He appealed to the international community to concentrate its efforts on ending the conflict in Iraq and Syria.[325]

War crimes accusations

In July 2014, the BBC reported the United Nations' chief investigator as stating: "Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) may be added to a list of war crimes suspects in Syria."[326]

In August 2014, the United Nations accused the Islamic State of committing "mass atrocities" and war crimes.[327][328]

Religious persecution

ISIS compels people in the areas it controls, under the penalty of death, torture or mutilation, to declare Islamic creed, and live according to its interpretation of Sunni Islam and sharia law.[329][330] It directs violence against Shia Muslims, indigenous Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac and Armenian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Shabaks and Mandeans in particular.[331]

Amnesty International has accused ISIS of the ethnic cleansing of minority groups in northern Iraq.[332]

Treatment of civilians

During the Iraqi conflict in 2014, ISIS released dozens of videos showing its ill treatment of civilians, many of whom had apparently been targeted on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned of war crimes occurring in the Iraqi war zone, and disclosed one UN report of ISIS militants murdering Iraqi Army soldiers and 17 civilians in a single street in Mosul. The United Nations reported that in the 17 days from 5 to 22 June, ISIS killed more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians and injured more than 1,000.[333][334][335] After ISIS released photographs of its fighters shooting scores of young men, the United Nations declared that cold-blooded "executions" said to have been carried out by militants in northern Iraq almost certainly amounted to war crimes.[336]

ISIS's advance in Iraq in mid-2014 was accompanied by continuing violence in Syria. On 29 May, a village in Syria was raided by ISIS and at least 15 civilians were killed, including, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six children.[337] A hospital in the area confirmed that it had received 15 bodies on the same day.[338] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that on 1 June, a 102-year-old man was killed along with his whole family in a village in Hama.[339]

ISIS has recruited to its ranks Iraqi children, who can be seen with masks on their faces and guns in their hands patrolling the streets of Mosul.[340]

Sexual violence allegations

According to one report, ISIS's capture of Iraqi cities in June 2014 was accompanied by an upsurge in crimes against women, including kidnap and rape.[341][342][343] The Guardian reported that ISIS's extremist agenda extended to women's bodies and that women living under their control were being captured and raped.[344] Hannaa Edwar, a leading women’s rights advocate in Baghdad who runs an NGO called Iraqi Al-Amal Association (IAA),[345] said that none of her contacts in Mosul were able to confirm any cases of rape.[346] However, another Baghdad-based women's rights activist, Basma al-Khateeb, said that a culture of violence existed in Iraq against women generally and felt sure that sexual violence against women was happening in Mosul involving not only ISIS but all armed groups.[346]

During a meeting with Nouri al-Maliki, British Foreign Minister William Hague said with regard to ISIS: "Anyone glorifying, supporting or joining it should understand that they would be assisting a group responsible for kidnapping, torture, executions, rape and many other hideous crimes".[347] According to Martin Williams in The Citizen, some hard-line Salafists apparently regard extramarital sex with multiple partners as a legitimate form of holy war and it is "difficult to reconcile this with a religion where some adherents insist that women must be covered from head to toe, with only a narrow slit for the eyes".[348]

Haleh Esfandiari from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has highlighted the abuse of local women by ISIS militants after they have captured an area. "They usually take the older women to a makeshift slave market and try to sell them. The younger girls ... are raped or married off to fighters", she said, adding, "It's based on temporary marriages, and once these fighters have had sex with these young girls, they just pass them on to other fighters."[349] Yezidi girls in Iraq allegedly raped by ISIS fighters have committed suicide by jumping to their death from Mount Sinjar, as described in a witness statement.[350]

Guidelines for civilians

After the self-proclaimed Islamic State captured cities in Iraq, ISIS issued guidelines on how to wear clothes and veils. ISIS warned women in the city of Mosul to wear full-face veils or face severe punishment.[351][352] A cleric told Reuters in Mosul that ISIS gunmen had ordered him to read out the warning in his mosque when worshippers gathered.[351] ISIS also banned naked mannequins and ordered the faces of both male and female mannequins to be covered.[353] ISIS released 16 notes labeled "Contract of the City", a set of rules aimed at civilians in Nineveh. One rule stipulated that women should stay at home and not go outside unless necessary. Another rule said that stealing would be punished by amputation.[129][354]

In addition to banning the sale and use of alcohol (which is customary in Muslim culture), militants have banned the sale and use of cigarettes and hookah pipes. They have also banned "music and songs in cars, at parties, in shops and in public, as well as photographs of people in shop windows.”[355]

Christians living in areas under ISIS control who wanted to remain in the "caliphate" faced three options: converting to Islam, paying a religious levy—jizya—or death. "We offer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract – involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword", ISIS said.[356] ISIS had already set similar rules for Christians in Ar-Raqqah, Syria, once one of the nation's most liberal cities.[357][358]

Timeline of events

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2003–06 events

The Al-Askari Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, after the first attack by Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006

The group was founded in 2003 as a reaction to the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Its first leader was the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who declared allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network on 17 October 2004.[359] Foreign fighters from outside Iraq were thought to play a key role in its network.[360] The group became a primary target of the Iraqi government and its foreign supporters, and attacks between these groups resulted in more than 1,000 deaths every year between 2004 and 2010.[361]

The Islamic State of Iraq made clear its belief that targeting civilians was an acceptable strategy and it has been responsible for thousands of civilian deaths since 2004.[362] In September 2005, al-Zarqawi declared war on Shia Muslims and the group used bombings—especially suicide bombings in public places—massacres and executions to carry out terrorist attacks on Shia-dominated and mixed sectarian neighbourhoods.[363] Suicide attacks by the ISI also killed hundreds of Sunni civilians, which engendered widespread anger among Sunnis.

2007 events

Between late 2006 and May 2007, the ISI brought the Dora neighborhood of southern Baghdad under its control. Numerous Christian families left, unwilling to pay the jizya tax.[citation needed] US efforts to drive out the ISI presence stalled in late June 2007, despite streets being walled off and the use of biometric identification technology. By November 2007, the ISI had been removed from Dora, and Assyrian churches could be re-opened.[364][not in citation given] In 2007 alone the ISI killed around 2,000 civilians, making that year the most violent in its campaign against the civilian population of Iraq.[362]

9 March: The Interior Ministry of Iraq said that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been captured in Baghdad,[365] but it was later said that the person in question was not al-Baghdadi.[366]

19 April: The organization announced that it had set up a provisional government termed "the first Islamic administration" of post-invasion Iraq. The "emirate" was stated to be headed by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and his "cabinet" of ten "ministers".[228]

Name (English transliteration) and notable pseudonyms Arabic name Post Notes

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi

d. 18 April 2010

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini al-Qurashi[367] (aka Abu Du'a)[368] أبو عمر البغدادي، أبو بكر البغدادي الحسيني القرشي Emir Abu Du'a, also known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,[368] is the second leader of the group.[369]

Abu Abdullah al-Husseini al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi أبو عبدالله الحسيني القرشي البغدادي Vice Emir[citation needed]

Abu Abdul Rahman al-Falahi أبو عبد الرحمن الفلاحي

ʾAbū ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān al-Falāḥī "First Minister" (Prime Minister)

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (aka Abu Ayyub al-Masri)

d. 18 April 2010

Al-Nasser Lideen Allah Abu Suleiman (aka Neaman Salman Mansour al Zaidi) أبو حمزة المهاجر War Identity of al-Muhajir with al-Masri suspected. ISI only used former name. Abu Suleiman is the second minister of war.

Abu Uthman al-Tamimi أبو عثمان التميمي

ʾAbū ʿUṯmān at-Tamīmī Sharia affairs

Abu Bakr al-Jabouri

(aka Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jabouri)

d. 1/2 May 2007 أبو بكر الجبوري

ʾAbū Bakr al-Ǧabūrī

(aka محارب عبد اللطيف الجبوري

Muḥārib ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Ǧabūrī) Public Relations Common spelling variants: al-Jubouri, al-Jiburi.

Abu Abdul Jabar al-Janabi أبو عبد الجبار الجنابي Security Established "Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice"[370]

Abu Muhammad al-Mashadani أبو محمد المشهداني

ʾAbū Muḥammad al-Mašhadānī Information

Abu Abdul Qadir al-Eissawi أبو عبد القادر العيساوي

ʾAbū ʿAbd al-Qādir al-ʿĪsāwī Martyrs and Prisoners Affairs

Abu Ahmed al-Janabi أبو أحمد الجنابي

ʾAbū ʾAḥmad al-Ǧanābī Oil

Mustafa al-A'araji مصطفى الأعرجي

Muṣṭafā al-ʾAʿraǧī Agriculture and Fisheries

Abu Abdullah al-Zabadi أبو عبد الله الزيدي Health

Mohammed Khalil al-Badria محمد خليل البدرية

Muḥammad Ḫalīl al-Badriyyah Education Announced on 3 September 2007

The names listed above are all considered to be noms de guerre.

3 May: Iraqi sources claimed that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been killed a short time earlier. According to The Long War Journal, no evidence was provided to support this and US sources remained skeptical.[371] The Islamic State of Iraq released a statement later that day which denied his death.[372]

12 May: In what was apparently the same incident, it was announced that "Minister of Public Relations" Abu Bakr al-Jabouri had been killed on 12 May 2007 near Taji.[verification needed] The exact circumstances of the incident remain unknown. The initial version of the events at Taji, as given by the Iraqi Interior Ministry, was that there had been a shoot-out between rival Sunni militias. Coalition and Iraqi government operations were apparently being conducted in the same area at about the same time and later sources implied that they were directly involved, with al-Jabouri being killed while resisting arrest. (See Abu Omar al-Baghdadi for details.)

12 May: The ISI issued a press release claiming responsibility for an ambush at Al Taqa, Babil on 12 May 2007, in which one Iraqi soldier and four US 10th Mountain Division soldiers were killed. Three soldiers of the US unit were captured and one was found dead in the Euphrates 11 days later. After a 4,000-man hunt by the US and allied forces ended without success, the ISI released a video in which it was claimed that the other two soldiers had been killed and buried, but no direct proof was given. Their bodies were found a year later.[373][374]

18 June: The US launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper, as "a large-scale effort to eliminate Al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists operating in Baquba and its surrounding areas".[375] (See also Diyala province campaign.)

25 June: The suicide bombing of a meeting of Al Anbar tribal leaders and officials at Mansour Hotel, Baghdad[376] killed 13 people, including six Sunni sheikhs[377] and other prominent figures. This was proclaimed by the ISI to have been in retaliation for the rape of a Sunni woman by Iraqi police.[378] Security at the hotel, which is 100 meters outside the Green Zone, was provided by a British contractor[379] which had apparently hired guerrilla fighters to provide physical security.[380][not in citation given] There were allegations that an Egyptian Islamist group may have been responsible for the bombing, but this has never been proven.[381]

In July, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi released an audio tape in which he issued an ultimatum to Iran. He said: "We are giving the Persians, and especially the rulers of Iran, a two-month period to end all kinds of support for the Iraqi Shia government and to stop direct and indirect intervention ... otherwise a severe war is waiting for you." He also warned Arab states against doing business with Iran.[382] Iran supports the Iraqi government which many see as anti-Sunni.[citation needed]

Resistance to coalition operations in Baqubah turned out to be less than anticipated. In early July, US Army sources suggested that any ISI leadership in the area had largely relocated elsewhere in early June 2007, before the start of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.[383]

2009–12 events

In the 25 October 2009 Baghdad bombings 155 people were killed and at least 721 were injured,[384] and in the 8 December 2009 Baghdad bombings at least 127 people were killed and 448 were injured.[385] The ISI claimed responsibility for both attacks.

The ISI claimed responsibility for the 25 January 2010 Baghdad bombings that killed 41 people, and the 4 April 2010 Baghdad bombings that killed 42 people and injured 224. On 17 June 2010, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the Central Bank of Iraq that killed 18 people and wounded 55.[386] On 19 August 2010, in a statement posted on a website often used by Islamist radicals, the ISI claimed responsibility for the 17 August 2010 Baghdad bombings.[387] It also claimed responsibility for the bombings in October 2010.[verification needed]

According to the SITE Institute,[388] the ISI claimed responsibility for the 2010 Baghdad church attack that took place during a Sunday Mass on 31 October 2010.[389]

8 February 2011: According to the SITE Institute, a statement of support for Egyptian protesters—which appears to have been the first reaction of any group affiliated with al-Qaeda to the protests in Egypt during the 2011 Arab Spring Movement—was issued by the Islamic State of Iraq on jihadist forums. The message addressed to the protesters was that the "market of jihad" had opened in Egypt, that "the doors of martyrdom had opened", and that every able-bodied man must participate. It urged Egyptians to ignore the "ignorant deceiving ways" of secularism, democracy and "rotten pagan nationalism". "Your jihad", it went on, is in support of Islam and the weak and oppressed in Egypt, for "your people" in Gaza and Iraq, and "for every Muslim" who has been "touched by the oppression of the tyrant of Egypt and his masters in Washington and Tel Aviv".[390]

In a four-month process ending in October 2011, the Syrian government reportedly released imprisoned Islamic radicals and provided them with arms "in order to make itself the least bad choice for the international community."[391]

23 July 2012: About 32 attacks occurred across Iraq, killing 116 people and wounding 299. The ISI claimed responsibility for the attacks, which took the form of bombings and shootings.[392]

In August 2012, two Iraqi refugees who have resided in Kentucky were accused of assisting AQI by sending funds and weapons; one has pleaded guilty.[393]

2013 events

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2012–14 Iraqi protests: Iraqi Sunni demonstrators protesting against the Shia-led government.

Starting in April 2013, the group made rapid military gains in controlling large parts of Northern Syria, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described them as "the strongest group".[394]

11 May: Two car bombs exploded in the town of Reyhanlı in Hatay Province, Turkey. At least 51 people were killed and 140 injured in the attack.[395] The attack was the deadliest single act of terrorism ever to take place on Turkish soil.[396] Along with the Syrian intelligence service, ISIL was suspected of carrying out the bombing attack.[397]

By 12 May, nine Turkish citizens, who were alleged to have links with Syria's intelligence service, had been detained.[398] On 21 May 2013, the Turkish authorities charged the prime suspect, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency. Four other suspects were also charged and 12 people had been charged in total.[clarification needed] All suspects were Turkish nationals whom Ankara believed were backed by the Syrian government.[399]

In July, Free Syrian Army battalion chief Kamal Hamami—better known by his nom de guerre Abu Bassir Al-Jeblawi—was killed by the group's Coastal region emir after his convoy was stopped at an ISIS checkpoint in Latakia's rural northern highlands. Al-Jeblawi was traveling to visit the Al-Izz Bin Abdulsalam Brigade operating in the region when ISIS members refused his passage, resulting in an exchange of fire in which Al-Jeblawi received a fatal gunshot wound.[400]

Also in July, ISIS organised a mass break-out of its members being held in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. British newspaper The Guardian reported that over 500 prisoners escaped, including senior commanders of the group.[401][402] ISIS issued an online statement claiming responsibility for the prison break, describing the operation as involving 12 car bombs, numerous suicide bombers and mortar and rocket fire.[401][402] It was described as the culmination of a one-year campaign called "destroying the walls", which was launched on 21 July 2012 by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; the aim was to replenish the group's ranks with comrades released from the prison.[403]

In early August, ISIS led the final assault in the Siege of Menagh Air Base.[404]

In September, members of the group kidnapped and killed the Ahrar ash-Sham commander Abu Obeida Al-Binnishi, after he had intervened to protect members of a Malaysian Islamic charity; ISIS had mistaken their Malaysian flag for that of the United States.[405][406]

Also in September, ISIS overran the Syrian town of Azaz, taking it from an FSA-affiliated rebel brigade.[407] ISIS members had attempted to kidnap a German doctor working in Azaz.[408] In November 2013, Today's Zaman, an English-language newspaper in Turkey, reported that Turkish authorities were on high alert, with the authorities saying that they had detailed information on ISIS's plans to carry out suicide bombings in major cities in Turkey, using seven explosive-laden cars being constructed in Ar-Raqqah.[409]

From 30 September, several Turkish media websites reported that ISIS had accepted responsibility for the attack and had threatened further attacks on Turkey.[410][411][412][413]

In November, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated: "ISIS is the strongest group in Northern Syria—100%—and anyone who tells you anything else is lying."[394]

In December, there were reports of fighting between ISIS and another Islamic rebel group, Ahrar ash-Sham, in the town of Maskana, Aleppo in Syria.[414]

In December, ISIS began an offensive in Anbar province in Iraq, changing insurgency there into a regional war which involved the United States and most of the states in the area.[citation needed]

2014 events

See Timeline of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant events in 2014 for a full list of 2014 events.

See also: Anbar clashes (2013–14), Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014), Northern Iraq offensive (August 2014) and 2014 American intervention in Iraq

Current military situation (September 2014):

Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)

Controlled by other Syrian rebels

Controlled by Syrian government

Controlled by Iraqi government

Controlled by Syrian Kurds

Controlled by Iraqi Kurds

Some of the most recent events are transcluded below:

18 August: Pope Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, said that the international community would be justified in stopping Islamist militants in Iraq. He also said that it should not be up to a single nation to decide how to intervene in the conflict.[415]

19 August: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Islamic State now has an army of more than 50,000 fighters in Syria.[18] American journalist James Foley was beheaded by the Islamic State on video tape.[416]

20 August: President Obama denounced the "brutal murder of Jim Foley by the terrorist group ISIL."[417]

21 August: The US military admitted that a covert rescue attempt involving dozens of US Special Operations forces had been made to rescue James Foley and other Americans held captive in Syria by Islamic State militants. The air and ground assault, involving the first known US military ground action inside Syria, had the authorization of President Obama. The ensuing gunfight resulted in one US soldier being injured. The rescue was unsuccessful, as Foley and the other captives were not in the location targeted. This was the first known engagement by US ground forces with suspected Islamic State militants.[418] The US Defense Secretary warned that the Islamic State were tremendously well-funded, adding, "They have no standard of decency, of responsible human behavior", and that they were an imminent threat to the US.[419]

22 August: The US is considering airstrikes on ISIS in Syria, which would draw US military forces directly into the Syrian Civil War, as President Obama develops a long-term strategy to defeat the Islamic State.[420]

26 August: The Islamic State carried out a suicide attack in Baghdad killing 15 people and injuring 37 others.[421]

28 August: The Islamic State beheaded a Lebanese Army soldier whom they had kidnapped.[422] The group also beheaded a Kurdish Peshmerga fighter in response to Kurdistan's alliance with the United States, and executed around 250 Syrian soldiers captured after the fall of Tabqa Air Base in Ar-Raqqah province.[423] The soldiers had earlier been marched to their place of execution wearing just their underwear.[424]

29 August: UK Prime Minister David Cameron raised the UK's terror level to "severe" and committed to fight radical Islam "at home and abroad".[425][426]

31 August: Iraqi military forces supported by Shia militias and American airstrikes broke the two-month siege of the northern Iraqi town of Amerli by Islamic State militants.[427] German Federal Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen announced that Germany will send enough weapons to arm 4,000 Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq fighting Islamic State insurgents.[428] The delivery to be scheduled in stages will include 16,000 assault rifles, 40 machine guns, 240 rocket-propelled grenades, 500 MILAN anti-tank missiles with 30 launchers and 10,000 hand grenades, with a total value of around 70 million euros. In order to assess the needs of the Peshmerga and prevent an excessive accumulation of arms, the Bundeswehr seconded six liaison officers to Erbil who will report to Berlin.[429]

September 2014

1 September: The German government's Cabinet decision to arm the Kurdish Peshmerga militia was ratified in the Bundestag by a "vast majority" of votes, after an emotional debate.[430]

2 September: The IS released a video showing the beheading of a man whom they identified as American journalist Steven Sotloff.[431][432]

4 September: A member of the Islamic State issued a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin, vowing to oust him over his support of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.[433][434]

5 September: The German Bundeswehr dispatched the first of a planned series of cargo planes to Iraq, loaded with helmets, vests, radios, and infrared night-vision rifle scopes. After a three-hour stopover in Baghdad for inspection, the aircraft will deliver the equipment to German personnel already in Erbil for distribution to the Kurdish fighters.[435] Qassem Soleimani, Commander of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, has been to the Iraqi city of Amirli, to work with the United States in pushing back militants of the Islamic State.[436][437][438]

8 September: The Islamic State carried out a double suicide attack in a town north of Baghdad killing 9 people and wounding 70 others.[439]

10 September: After ISIL had outraged American opinion by beheading two American journalists and had seized control of large portions of Syria and Iraq in the face of ineffective opposition from American allies, President Obama decided on a new objective for a rollback policy in the Middle East. He announced: "America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat. Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy."[440]

12 September: Western-backed Syrian rebels and the Islamic State signed a "non-aggression" agreement.[441]

13 September: UK humanitarian aid worker David Cawthorne Haines, whose life had been threatened by Jihadi John in the Steven Sotloff video, was purportedly beheaded in a video titled "A Message to the Allies of America".[442] (Continoe)

Notable members

Mugshot of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US armed forces while in detention at Camp Bucca in 2004

Leaders

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (killed in 2006)

Abu Ayyub al-Masri (killed in 2010)

Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi (killed in 2010)

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (caliph of the self-declared Islamic State)

Other personnel

Abu Anas al-Shami (killed in 2004)

Abu Azzam (killed in 2005)

Abu Suleiman al-Naser

Abu Omar al-Kurdi (captured in 2005)

Abu Omar al-Shishani

Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi (captured in 2006)

Abu Yaqub al-Masri (killed in 2007)

Abu Waheeb

Haitham al-Badri (killed in 2007)

Hamid Juma Faris Jouri al-Saeedi (captured in 2006)

Khaled al-Mashhadani (captured in 2007)

Mahir al-Zubaydi (killed in 2008)

Douglas McCain (killed in 2014)

Mohamed Moumou (killed in 2008)

Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman (killed in 2006)

Huthaifa al-Batawi (killed in 2011)

Designation as a terrorist organization

Country Date References

United States United States 17 December 2004 [443]

Australia Australia 2 March 2005 [444]

Canada Canada 20 August 2012 [445]

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 7 March 2014 [446]

United Kingdom United Kingdom 20 June 2014 [447]

Indonesia Indonesia 1 August 2014 [448]

Media sources worldwide have also called IS a terrorist organization.[169][329][449][450][451]

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists in the Arab world have advanced false rumors that the US is secretly behind the existence and emboldening of ISIS, as part of an attempt to further destabilize the Middle East. After the rumors gained viral status, the US embassy in Lebanon issued an official statement denying the allegations, calling them a complete fabrication.[452] Others are convinced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is an Israeli Mossad agent and actor called "Simon Elliot". The rumors claim that NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal this connection. Snowden’s lawyer has called the story "a hoax".[453][454][455] (Continoe)

Indonesia in Focus

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Unfinished journey (91)

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