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Islamic State
الدولة الإسلامية ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah
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Also known as	ISIS, ISIL, IS, Daesh
Founder	Abu Musab al-Zarqawi †
Leaders	Leader: Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi Spokesman: Abu Hudhayfah Al-Ansari Former leaders: Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi † Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi † Deputy leader in Iraq: Abu Fatima al-Jaheishi Deputy leader in Syria: Maher al-Agal † Deputy leader in Libya: Abdul Qader al-Najdi † Military chief: Abu Saleh al-Obaidi Head of the Shura Council: Abu Arkan al-Ameri Chief of Syrian military operations: Abu Omar al-Shishani † Minister of War: Gulmurod Khalimov † Minister of Finance: Sami Jasim Muhammad al-Jaburi  (POW) Minister of Information: Abu Muhammad al-Furqan † Former spokesmen: Abu Mohammad al-Adnani † Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir † Abu Hamza Al-Qurashi † Abu Omar al-Muhajir (POW)
Dates of operation	1999–present 1999: Established under the name of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad October 2004: Joined al-Qaeda 13 October 2006: Declaration of an Islamic State in Iraq 8 April 2013: Renamed to "ISIL" and claim of territory in the Levant 3 February 2014: Separated from al-Qaeda 29 June 2014: Declaration of caliphate 13 November 2014: Claim of territory in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen 29 January 2015: Claim of territory in South Asia 12 March 2015: Claim of territory in Nigeria 23 June 2015: Claim of territory in North Caucasus 20 July 2017: Recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces 17 October 2017: Capture of Raqqa by SDF forces 23 March 2019: Loses all of its territory in Syria 27 October 2019: Killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 3 February 2022: Killing of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi
Group(s)	Groups Algerian Province (until 2016) Bengal Province (until 2020) Caucasus Province Central Africa Province Khorasan Province Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (2015–2016) Jundallah (Pakistan) (2014–2017) Mullah Dadullah Front (2015–2016) Libyan Province Pakistan Province Sahil Province Somalia Province West Africa Province Boko Haram (until 2016) Yemen Province East Asia Province (until 2024) Ansar Khalifa Philippines (until 2021) East Indonesia Mujahideen (until 2022) Katibah Nusantara Sham Province Khalid ibn al-Walid Army (until 2018) Mozambique Province Hind Province Jammu and Kashmir Province Islamic State - Turkey Province Islamic State – Azerbaijan Province Islamic State – Tunisia Province Iraq Province Kurdistan Province (until 2024) Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade (until 2019) Al-Khansaa Brigade (until 2017) Brussels Islamic State terror cell (until 2016) Islamic State - Saudi Arabia Province (until 2017) Sinai Province (until 2023) Unorganized cells Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil (until 2018) Die Wahre Religion (until 2016) Profetens Ummah (until 2016)
Headquarters	Unknown (March 2019 – present) Former Baqubah, Iraq (2006–2007) No central headquarters (2007–2013) Raqqa, Syria (2013–2017) Mayadin, Syria (June–October 2017) Al-Qa'im, Iraq (October–November 2017) Abu Kamal, Syria (November 2017) Hajin, Syria (November 2017 – December 2018) Al-Susah, Syria (December 2018 – January 2019) Al-Marashidah, Syria (January–February 2019) Al-Baghuz Fawqani, Syria (February–March 2019)
Active regions	IS territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent (May 2015) Map legend   Islamic State   Iraqi government   Syrian government   Lebanese government   Iraqi Kurdistan forces   Syrian Kurdistan forces   Syrian opposition forces   Turkish Armed Forces   Al-Nusra Front   Hezbollah Note: Iraq and Syria contain large desert areas with sparse populations. These areas are mapped as under the control of forces holding roads and towns within them. Detailed current maps Detailed map of the Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese conflicts Detailed map of the Libyan Civil War Detailed map of the Sinai insurgency Detailed map of the Nigerian insurgency Detailed map of the Yemeni Civil War Detailed map of the Insurgency in Mozambique Detailed map of the Somali Civil War Detailed map of the Mali War
Ideology	Islamic Statism Theocracy Qutbism Takfirism Wahhabism Salafism Salafi jihadism Islamic fundamentalism Anti-Yazidi sentiment Anti-Shia sentiment Anti-Christian sentiment Anti-Hindu sentiment Anti-LGBT sentiment Antisemitism Misogyny
Slogan	Baqiya wa Tatamadad (Remaining and Expanding)
Status	Active
Size	List of combatant numbers Inside Syria and Iraq: 1,500–3,000 (UN 2024 report) 5,000–10,000 (UN Security Council 2019 report) 28,600–31,600 (July 2018) (2016 US Defense Department estimate) 200,000 (2015 claim by Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff) 100,000 (2015 Jihadist claim) 35,000–100,000 (at peak, US State Department estimate) Outside Syria and Iraq: 32,600–57,900 (See Military activity of ISIL for more detailed estimates.) Estimated total: 61,200–257,900 Civilian population In 2015 (near max extent): 8–12 million In 2022 (ISWAP): 800,000
Part of	Al-Qaeda (2004–2013)
Allies	See section
Opponents	State opponents  Afghanistan  Australia  Canada  Ethiopia European Union  France  India  Indonesia  Iran  Iraq  Israel  Jordan  Lebanon  Libya  Mozambique  Nigeria  Pakistan  Philippines  Russia  Saudi Arabia  Somalia Syria  Turkey  United Arab Emirates  United Kingdom  United States  Yemen Additional opponents  Abkhazia  Albania  Algeria  Andorra  Armenia  Austria  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Bangladesh  Belgium  Benin  Bolivia  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Brazil  Brunei  Bulgaria  Cambodia  Cameroon  Chad  China  DR Congo  Croatia  Czech Republic  Denmark  Djibouti  East Timor  Egypt  Eritrea  Estonia  Fiji  Finland  Georgia  Germany  Ghana  Greece  Guyana  Hungary  Iceland  Ireland  Italy  Japan  Kazakhstan  Kiribati  North Korea  South Korea  Kosovo  Kyrgyzstan  Kuwait  Laos  Latvia  Liechtenstein  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malaysia  Maldives  Malta  Marshall Islands  Mauritius  Mauritania  Mexico  Micronesia  Moldova  Monaco  Morocco  Myanmar  Nauru  Netherlands  New Zealand  Nicaragua  Niger  North Macedonia  Norway  Oman  Palau  Palestine  Papua New Guinea  Poland  Portugal  Qatar  Romania  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  Samoa  San Marino  Senegal  Serbia  Singapore  Slovakia  Slovenia  Solomon Islands  South Ossetia  Sudan  Spain  Sri Lanka  Sweden   Switzerland  Taiwan  Tajikistan  Thailand  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Tunisia  Turkmenistan  Tuvalu  Uganda  Ukraine  Uzbekistan  Vanuatu  Vietnam Non-state opponents Syrian Interim Government  ∟ Occupied Syria  ∟ Syrian National Army North and East Syria  ∟ Syrian Democratic Forces Syrian Salvation Government  ∟ Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham Peshmerga  al-Qaeda Additional opponents Hezbollah Houthis Free Syrian Army Hamas Nineveh Plain Protection Units Badr Organization Popular Mobilization Forces Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Kata'ib Hezbollah Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba Full list... National Defence Forces Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Kurdistan Communities Union Ahrar al-Sham Al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham since 2017) Libya Shield Force Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna Army of Conquest (2015–17) Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham Jaysh al-Mu'ammal Syrian Hezbollah Quwat al-Ridha Liwa Fatemiyoun Liwa Zainebiyoun Islamic Front Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union Ba'ath Brigades Venezuelan opposition More...
Battles and wars	Iraq War (2003–2011) Iraqi insurgency Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Second Libyan Civil War Boko Haram insurgency Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa War in Afghanistan Yemeni Civil War Other conflicts Primary target of Operation Inherent Resolve Military intervention against IS American-led intervention in Syria American-led intervention in Iraq Egyptian intervention in Libya Nigerian-led intervention
Preceded by Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah (2004–2006) Mujahideen Shura Council (2006) Islamic State in Iraq (2006–2013)

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The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and by its Arabic acronym Daesh (Arabic: داعش) is a transnational Salafi jihadist group and unrecognized quasi-state. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim countries.

IS gained global prominence in 2014, when its militants conquered large territories in northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, taking advantage of the ongoing civil war in Syria and the disintegrating local military forces of Iraq. By the end of 2015, its self-declared caliphate ruled an area with a population of about 12 million, where they enforced their extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding US$1 billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters. After a grinding conflict with American, Iraqi, and Kurdish forces, IS lost control of all its Middle Eastern territories by 2019, subsequently reverting to insurgency from remote hideouts while continuing its propaganda efforts. These efforts have garnered a significant following in northern and Sahelian Africa, where IS still controls a significant territory.

Originating in the Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004, the organisation (primarily under the Islamic State of Iraq name) affiliated itself with al-Qaeda in Iraq and fought alongside them during the 2003–2006 phase of the Iraqi insurgency. The group later changed their name to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant for about a year, before declaring itself to be a worldwide caliphate, called simply the Islamic State (الدولة الإسلامية, ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah).

As a caliphate, IS demanded the religious, political, and military obedience of Muslims worldwide, despite the rejection of its legitimacy by mainstream Muslims and its statehood by the United Nations and most governments. During its rule in Syria and Iraq, the group "became notorious for its brutality". Under its rule of these regions, IS launched genocides against Yazidis and Iraqi Turkmen; engaged in persecution of Christians, Shia Muslims, and Mandaeans; publicised videos of beheadings of soldiers, journalists, and aid workers; and destroyed several cultural sites. The group has perpetrated terrorist massacres in territories outside of its control, such as the November 2015 Paris attacks, the 2024 Kerman bombings in Iran, and the 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Russia. Lone wolf attacks inspired by the group have also taken place.

After 2015, the Iraqi Armed Forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces pushed back IS and degraded its financial and military infrastructure, assisted by advisors, weapons, training, supplies, and airstrikes by the American-led coalition, and later by Russian airstrikes, bombings, cruise missile attacks, and scorched-earth tactics across Syria, which focused mostly on razing Syrian opposition strongholds rather than IS bases. By March 2019, IS lost the last of its territories in West Asia, although its affiliates maintained a significant territorial presence in Africa as of 2024.

Name

The Islamic State, abbreviated IS, is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL /ˈaɪsɪl/), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS /ˈaɪsɪs/), and by its Arabic acronym Da'ish or Daesh (داعش, Dāʿish, IPA: [ˈdaːʕɪʃ]), and also as Dawlat al-Islam (Arabic: دولة الإسلام). In April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām (الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام). As al-Shām is a region often compared with the Levant or the region of Syria, the group's name has been variously translated as "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham", "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (both abbreviated as ISIS), or "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (abbreviated as ISIL). In 2014, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah dubbed ISIS as QSIS for "al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria", arguing that ISIL does not represent the vast majority of Muslims.

While the use of either one or the other acronym has been the subject of debate, the distinction between the two and its relevance has been considered less important. Of greater relevance is the name Daesh, which is an acronym of ISIL's Arabic name ad-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī l-ʻIrāq wa-sh-Shām. Dāʿish (داعش), or Daesh. This name has been widely used by ISIL's Arabic-speaking detractors, for example when referring to the group whilst speaking amongst themselves, although—and to a certain extent because⁠—it is considered derogatory, as it resembles the Arabic words Daes ("one who crushes, or tramples down, something underfoot") and Dāhis (loosely translated as "one who sows discord"). Within areas under its control, ISIL considers use of the name Daesh punishable by flogging.

In late June 2014, the group renamed itself ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah (lit. 'Islamic State' or IS), declaring itself a worldwide caliphate. The name "Islamic State" and the group's claim to be a caliphate have been widely rejected, with the UN, various governments, and mainstream Muslim groups refusing to use the new name. The group's declaration of a new caliphate in June 2014 and its adoption of the name "Islamic State" have been criticised and ridiculed by Muslim scholars and rival Islamists both inside and outside the territory it controls.

In a speech in September 2014, United States President Barack Obama said that ISIL was neither Islamic (on the basis that no religion condones the killing of innocents) nor a state (in that no government recognises the group as a state), while many object to using the name Islamic State owing to the far-reaching religious and political claims to authority which that name implies. The United Nations Security Council, the United States, Canada, Turkey, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries generally call the group ISIL, while much of the Arab world uses the Arabic acronym Dāʻish or Daesh. France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: "This is a terrorist group and not a state. I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims, and Islamists. The Arabs call it 'Daesh' and I will be calling them the 'Daesh cutthroats'." Retired general John Allen, the U.S. envoy appointed to co-ordinate the coalition; U.S. Army Lieutenant General James Terry, head of operations against the group; and Secretary of State John Kerry had all shifted towards use of the term Daesh by December 2014, which nonetheless remained a pejorative in 2021.

Purpose and strategy

Ideology

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The ideology of the Islamic State has been described as being a hybrid of Salafism, Salafi jihadism, Islamic fundamentalism, Wahhabism, and Qutbism, as well as other doctrines.

According to Robert Manne, there is a "general consensus" that the ideology of the Islamic State is "primarily based upon the writings of the radical Egyptian theoretician Sayyid Qutb". The Muslim Brotherhood began the trend of political Islamism in the 20th century, seeking gradual establishment of a new Caliphate, a comprehensive Islamic society ruled by sharia law. Qutb's doctrines of jahiliyya (pre-Islamic ignorance), hakimiyya (divine sovereignty), and takfir of entire societies formed a radicalized vision of the Muslim Brotherhood's political Islam project. Qutbism became the precursor to all jihadist thought, from Abdullah Azzam to Zawahiri and to Daesh. Alongside Sayyid Qutb, the most invoked ideological figures of IS include Ibn Taymiyya, Abdullah Azzam, and Abu Bakr Naji.

Although IS claims to adhere to the Salafi theology of Ibn Taymiyyah, it rejects traditional Salafi interpretations as well as the four Sunni schools of law, and anathematizes the majority of Salafis as heretics. IS ideologues rarely uphold adherence to Islamic scholarship and law manuals for reference, mostly preferring to derive rulings based on self-interpretation of the Qur'an and Muslim traditions.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the first Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq, was radicalised as a Muslim Brotherhood member during his youth. Motaz Al-Khateeb states that religious texts and Islamic jurisprudence "alone cannot explain the emergence" of Daesh since the Muslim Brotherhood and Daesh "draw on the same Islamic jurisprudence" but "are diametrically opposite" in strategy and behavior. Through the official statement of beliefs originally released by al-Baghdadi in 2007 and subsequently updated since June 2014, ISIL defined its creed as "a middle way between the extremist Kharijites and the lax Murji'ites". ISIL's ideology represents radical Jihadi-Salafi Islam, a strict, puritanical form of Sunni Islam. Muslim organisations like Islamic Networks Group (ING) in America have argued against this interpretation of Islam. ISIL promotes religious violence, and regards Muslims who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates.

According to Hayder al Khoei, IS's philosophy is represented by the symbolism in the Black Standard variant of the legendary battle flag of Muhammad that it has adopted: the flag shows the Seal of Muhammad within a white circle, with the phrase above it, "There is no god but Allah". This symbolism is said to symbolize IS's belief that it represents the restoration of the caliphate of early Islam, with all the political, religious and eschatological ramifications that this would imply.

Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir, an Egyptian Jihadist theoretician and ideologue is considered as the key inspiration for early figures of IS. Al-Muhajir's legal manual on violence, Fiqh ad-Dima (The Jurisprudence of Jihad or The Jurisprudence of Blood), was adopted by IS as its standard reference for justifying its extraordinary acts of violence. The book has been described by counter-terrorism scholar Orwa Ajjoub as rationalising and justifying "suicide operations, the mutilation of corpses, beheading, and the killing of children and non-combatants." His theological and legal justifications influenced IS, al-Qaeda, and Boko Haram, as well as several other jihadi terrorist groups. Numerous media outlets have compared his reference manual to Abu Bakr Naji's Management of Savagery, widely read among IS's commanders and fighters.

IS adheres to global jihadist principles and follows the hard-line ideology of al-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups.

For their guiding principles, the leaders of the Islamic State ... are open and clear about their almost exclusive commitment to the Wahhabi movement of Sunni Islam. The group circulates images of Wahhabi religious textbooks from Saudi Arabia in the schools it controls. Videos from the group's territory have shown Wahhabi texts plastered on the sides of an official missionary van.

— David D. Kirkpatrick, The New York Times

According to The Economist, Saudi practices followed by the group include the establishment of religious police to root out "vice" and enforce attendance at Salah prayers, the widespread use of capital punishment, and the destruction or re-purposing of any non-Sunni religious buildings. Bernard Haykel has described IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's creed as "a kind of untamed Wahhabism". Senior Saudi religious leaders have issued statements condemning IS, and attempting to distance the group from official Saudi religious beliefs. What connection, if any, there is between Salafi-Jihadism of IS and Wahhabism and Salafism proper is disputed. IS borrowed two elements of Qutbism and 20th century Islamism into its version of Wahhabi worldview. While Wahhabism shuns violent rebellion against earthly rulers, IS embraces political call to revolutions. While historically Wahhabis were not champion activists of a Caliphate, IS borrowed the idea of restoration of a global Caliphate.

Although the religious character of IS is mostly Wahhabi, it departs from the Wahhabi tradition in four critical aspects: dynastic alliance, call to establish a global caliphate, sheer violence, and apocalyptism. IS did not follow the pattern of the first three Saudi states in allying the religious mission of the Najdi ulema with the Al Saud family, rather they consider them apostates. The call for a global caliphate is another departure from Wahhabism. The caliphate, understood in Islamic law as the ideal Islamic polity uniting all Muslim territories, does not figure much in traditional Najdi writings. Ironically, Wahhabism emerged as an anti-caliphate movement.

Although violence was not absent in the First Saudi State, Islamic State's displays of beheading, immolation, and other forms of violence aimed at inspiring fear are not in imitation of early Saudi practices. They were introduced by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, former leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who took inspiration from the Egyptian Jihadi scholar, Abu Abdallah Al Muhajir. It is the latter's legal manual on violence, popularly known as Fiqh ad-Dima (The Jurisprudence of Blood), that is the Islamic State's standard reference for justifying its acts of violence. The Islamic State's apocalyptic dimension also lacks a mainstream Wahhabi precedent.

IS aims to return to the early days of Islam, rejecting all innovations in the religion, which it believes corrupts its original spirit. It condemns later caliphates and the Ottoman Empire for deviating from what it calls pure Islam and seeks to revive the original Qutbist project of the restoration of a global caliphate that is governed by a strict Salafi-Jihadi doctrine. Following Salafi-Jihadi doctrines, IS condemns the followers of secular law as disbelievers, putting the current Saudi Arabian government in that category.

IS believes 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, IS regards the Palestinian Sunni group Hamas as apostates who have no legitimate authority to lead jihad and see fighting Hamas as the first step towards confrontation by IS with Israel.

Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye said:

The Islamic State was drafted by Sayyid Qutb, taught by Abdullah Azzam, globalized by Osama bin Laden, transferred to reality by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and implemented by al-Baghdadis: Abu Omar and Abu Bakr.

The Islamic State added a focus on sectarianism to a layer of radical views. In particular, it linked itself to the Salafi-jihadi movement that evolved out of the Afghan jihad.

— Hassan Hassan, The Sectarianism of the Islamic State: Ideological Roots and Political Context.

Islamic eschatology

One difference between IS and other Islamist and jihadist movements, including al-Qaeda, is the group's emphasis on eschatology and apocalypticism – that is, a belief in a final Day of Judgment by God. IS believes that it will defeat the army of "Rome" at the town of Dabiq.

The noted scholar of militant Islamism Will McCants writes:

References to the End Times fill Islamic State propaganda. It's a big selling point with foreign fighters, who want to travel to the lands where the final battles of the apocalypse will take place. The civil wars raging in those countries today lend credibility to the prophecies. The Islamic State has stoked the apocalyptic fire. ... For Bin Laden's generation, the apocalypse wasn't a great recruiting pitch. Governments in the Middle East two decades ago were more stable, and sectarianism was more subdued. It was better to recruit by calling to arms against corruption and tyranny than against the Antichrist. Today, though, the apocalyptic recruiting pitch makes more sense than before.

— William McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

Goals

Since at latest 2004, a significant goal of the group has been the foundation of a Sunni Islamic state. Specifically, ISIL has sought to establish itself as a caliphate, an Islamic state led by a group of religious authorities under a supreme leader – the caliph – who is believed to be the successor to Muhammad. In June 2014, ISIL published a document in which it claimed to have traced the lineage of its leader al-Baghdadi back to Muhammad, and upon proclaiming a new caliphate on 29 June, the group appointed al-Baghdadi as its caliph. As caliph, he demanded the allegiance of all devout Muslims worldwide according to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).

ISIL has detailed its goals in its Dabiq magazine, saying it will continue to seize land and take over the entire Earth until its:

Blessed flag...covers all eastern and western extents of the Earth, filling the world with the truth and justice of Islam and putting an end to the falsehood and tyranny of jahiliyyah , even if America and its coalition despise such.

— 5th edition of Dabiq, the Islamic State's English-language magazine

According to German journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer, who spent ten days embedded with ISIL in Mosul, the view he kept hearing was that ISIL wants to "conquer the world", and that all who do not believe in the group's interpretation of the Quran will be killed. Todenhöfer was struck by the ISIL fighters' belief that "all religions who agree with democracy have to die", and by their "incredible enthusiasm" – including enthusiasm for killing "hundreds of millions" of people.

When the caliphate was proclaimed, ISIL stated: "The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the khilafah's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas." This was a rejection of the political divisions in Southwestern Asia that were established by the UK and France during World War I in the Sykes–Picot Agreement.

All non-Muslim areas would be targeted for conquest after the Muslim lands were dealt with, according to the Islamist manual Management of Savagery.

Strategy

Documents found after the death of Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi, a former colonel in the intelligence service of the Iraqi Air Force before the US invasion who had been described as "the strategic head" of ISIL, detailed planning for the ISIL takeover of northern Syria which made possible "the group's later advances into Iraq". Al-Khlifawi called for the infiltration of areas to be conquered with spies who would find out "as much as possible about the target towns: Who lived there, who was in charge, which families were religious, which Islamic school of religious jurisprudence they belonged to, how many mosques there were, who the imam was, how many wives and children he had and how old they were". Following this surveillance and espionage would come murder and kidnapping – "the elimination of every person who might have been a potential leader or opponent". In Raqqa, after rebel forces drove out the Assad regime and ISIL infiltrated the town, "first dozens and then hundreds of people disappeared".

Security and intelligence expert Martin Reardon has described IS's purpose as being to psychologically "break" those under its control, "so as to ensure their absolute allegiance through fear and intimidation", while generating "outright hate and vengeance" among its enemies. Jason Burke, a journalist writing on Salafi jihadism, has written that IS's goal is to "terrorize, mobilize polarize". Its efforts to terrorise are intended to intimidate civilian populations and force governments of the target enemy "to make rash decisions that they otherwise would not choose". It aims to mobilise its supporters by motivating them with, for example, spectacular deadly attacks deep in Western territory (such as the November 2015 Paris attacks), to polarise by driving Muslim populations – particularly in the West – away from their governments, thus increasing the appeal of IS's self-proclaimed caliphate among them, and to: "Eliminate neutral parties through either absorption or elimination". Journalist Rukmini Maria Callimachi also emphasises IS's interest in polarisation or in eliminating what it calls the "grey zone" between the black (non-Muslims) and white (IS). "The gray is moderate Muslims who are living in the West and are happy and feel engaged in the society here."

A work published online in 2004 entitled Management of Savagery (Idarat at Tawahoush), described by several media outlets as influential on IS and intended to provide a strategy to create a new Islamic caliphate, recommended a strategy of attack outside its territory in which fighters would "Diversify and widen the vexation strikes against the Crusader-Zionist enemy in every place in the Islamic world, and even outside of it if possible, so as to disperse the efforts of the alliance of the enemy and thus drain it to the greatest extent possible."

The group has been accused of attempting to "bolster morale" and distract attention from its loss of territory to enemies by staging terror attacks abroad (such as the 2016 Berlin truck attack, the 6 June 2017 attacks on Tehran, the 22 May 2017 bombing in Manchester, and the 3 June 2017 attacks in London that IS claimed credit for).

Organisation

IS has been described as a terrorist group adhering to Salafi jihadism. Raqqa in Syria was under IS control from 2013 and in 2014 it became the group's de facto capital city. On 17 October 2017, following a lengthy battle that saw massive destruction to the city, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the full capture of Raqqa from IS.

Leadership and governance

From 2013 to 2019, IS was headed and run by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the Islamic State's self-styled Caliph. Before their deaths, he had two deputy leaders, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani for Iraq and Abu Ali al-Anbari (also known as Abu Ala al-Afri) for Syria, both ethnic Turkmen. Advising al-Baghdadi were a cabinet of senior leaders, while its operations in Iraq and Syria are controlled by local 'emirs,' who head semi-autonomous groups which the Islamic State refers to as its provinces. Beneath the leaders are councils on finance, leadership, military matters, legal matters (including decisions on executions) foreign fighters' assistance, security, intelligence and media. In addition, a shura council has the task of ensuring that all decisions made by the governors and councils comply with the group's interpretation of sharia. While al-Baghdadi had told followers to "advise me when I err" in sermons, according to observers "any threat, opposition, or even contradiction is instantly eradicated".

According to Iraqis, Syrians, and analysts who study the group, almost all of IS's leaders—including the members of its military and security committees and the majority of its emirs and princes—are former Iraqi military and intelligence officers, specifically former members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath government who lost their jobs and pensions in the de-Ba'athification process after that regime was overthrown. The former Chief Strategist in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism of the US State Department, David Kilcullen, has said that "There undeniably would be no Isis if we had not invaded Iraq." It has been reported that Iraqis and Syrians have been given greater precedence over other nationalities within IS because the group needs the loyalties of the local Sunni populations in both Syria and Iraq in order to be sustainable. Other reports, however, have indicated that Syrians are at a disadvantage to foreign members, with some native Syrian fighters resenting "favouritism" allegedly shown towards foreigners over pay and accommodation.

In August 2016, media reports based on briefings by Western intelligence agencies suggested that IS had a multilevel secret service known in Arabic as Emni, established in 2014, that has become a combination of an internal police force and an external operations directorate complete with regional branches. The unit was believed to be under the overall command of IS's most senior Syrian operative, spokesman and propaganda chief Abu Mohammad al-Adnani until his death by airstrike in late August 2016.

On 27 October 2019, the United States conducted a special operation targeting al-Baghdadi's compound in Barisha, Idlib, Northwest Syria. The attack resulted in al-Baghdadi's death; caught by surprise and unable to escape, al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest, deliberately killing both himself and two children who had been living in the compound prior to the assault. U.S. President Donald Trump stated in a televised announcement that Baghdadi had, in fact, died during the operation and that American forces used support from helicopters, jets and drones through airspace controlled by Russia and Turkey. He said that "Russia treated us great... Iraq was excellent. We really had great cooperation" and Turkey knew they were going in. He thanked Turkey, Russia, Syria, Iraq and the Syrian Kurdish forces for their support. The Turkish Defence Ministry also confirmed on Sunday that Turkish and U.S. military authorities exchanged and coordinated information ahead of an attack in Syria's Idlib. Fahrettin Altun, a senior aide to Turkish President Tayyib Erdogan, also stated, among other things, that "Turkey was proud to help the United States, our NATO ally, bring a notorious terrorist to justice" and that Turkey "will continue to work closely with the United States and others to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to say if the United States had told Russia about the raid in advance but said that its result if confirmed, represented a serious contribution by the United States to combat terrorism. Russia had previously claimed Baghdadi was killed in May 2019 by their airstrike.

In September 2019, a statement attributed to IS's propaganda arm, the Amaq news agency, claimed that Abdullah Qardash was named as al-Baghdadi's successor. Analysts dismissed this statement as a fabrication, and relatives were reported as saying that Qardash died in 2017. Rita Katz, a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of SITE Intelligence, noted that the alleged statement used a different font when compared to other statements and it was never distributed on Amaq or IS channels.

On 29 October 2019, Trump stated on social media that al-Baghdadi's "number one replacement" had been killed by American forces, without giving a name. A U.S. official later confirmed that Trump was referring to IS spokesman and senior leader Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Syria two days earlier. On 31 October, IS named Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi as Baghdadi's successor. On 3 February 2022, it was reported by a US official that al-Hashimi killed himself and members of his family by triggering an explosive device during a counter-terrorism raid by the US Joint Special Operations Command. On 30 November 2022, IS announced that their unidentified leader had been killed in battle and named a successor, providing no additional information other than his pseudonym. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command confirmed that IS's leader had been killed in mid-October by anti-government rebels in southern Syria. On 16 February 2023, senior IS leader Hamza al-Homsi blew himself up in a U.S.-led raid in Syria.

Civilians in Islamic State-controlled areas

In 2014, The Wall Street Journal estimated that eight million people lived in the Islamic State. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has stated that IS "seeks to subjugate civilians under its control and dominate every aspect of their lives through terror, indoctrination, and the provision of services to those who obey". Civilians, as well as the Islamic State itself, have released footage of some of the human rights abuses.

Social control of civilians was by imposition of IS's reading of sharia law, enforced by morality police forces known as Al-Hisbah and the all-women Al-Khanssaa Brigade, a general police force, courts, and other entities managing recruitment, tribal relations, and education. Al-Hisbah was led by Abu Muhammad al-Jazrawi.

In 2015, IS published a penal code including floggings, amputations, crucifixions, etc.

Military

Number of combatants

Estimates of the size of IS's military have varied widely, from tens of thousands up to 200,000. In early 2015, journalist Mary Anne Weaver estimated that half of IS fighters were foreigners. A UN report estimated a total of 15,000 fighters from over 80 countries were in IS's ranks in November 2014. US intelligence estimated an increase to around 20,000 foreign fighters in February 2015, including 3,400 from the Western world. In September 2015, the CIA estimated that 30,000 foreign fighters had joined IS.

According to Abu Hajjar, a former senior leader of IS, foreign fighters receive food, petrol and housing, but unlike native Iraqi or Syrian fighters, they do not receive payment in wages. Since 2012, more than 3,000 people from the central Asian countries have gone to Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan to join the Islamic State or Jabhat al Nusra.

Conventional weapons

IS relies mostly on captured weapons with major sources including Saddam Hussein's Iraqi stockpiles from the 2003–11 Iraq insurgency and weapons from government and opposition forces fighting in the Syrian Civil War and during the post-US withdrawal Iraqi insurgency. The captured weapons, including armour, guns, surface-to-air missiles, and even some aircraft, enabled rapid territorial growth and facilitated the capture of additional equipment. For example, IS captured US-made TOW anti-tank missiles supplied by the United States and Saudi Arabia to the Free Syrian Army in Syria. Ninety percent of the group's weapons ultimately originated in China, Russia or Eastern Europe according to Conflict Armament Research.

Non-conventional weapons

The group uses truck and car bombs, suicide bombers and IEDs, and has used chemical weapons in Iraq and Syria. IS captured nuclear materials from Mosul University in July 2014, but is unlikely to be able to convert them into weapons. In September 2015 a US official stated that IS was manufacturing and using mustard agent in Syria and Iraq, and had an active chemical weapons research team. IS has also used water as a weapon of war. The group closed the gates of the smaller Nuaimiyah dam in Fallujah in April 2014, flooding the surrounding regions, while cutting the water supply to the Shia-dominated south. Around 12,000 families lost their homes and 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi) of villages and fields were either flooded or dried up. The economy of the region also suffered with destruction of cropland and electricity shortages. During the Battle of Mosul, commercially available quadcopters and drones were being used by IS as surveillance and weapons delivery platforms using improvised cradles to drop grenades and other explosives. One IS drone base was struck and destroyed by two Royal Air Force Tornado using two Paveway IV guided bombs.