- IS | ISIS | ISIL | Daesh.
- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
- The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
- Salafi-Jihadist militant organization.
- For | a global Salafi-Jihadist movement.
- For | an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
- Core | primarily in Iraq and Syria.
- Jama’at al-Tawhid wa’al-Jihad (JTJ) | ISIS’ main predecessor terror group | formed in 1999.
- Formed by | Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
- Then it became Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) | 2004.
- 2011 | US forces withdrawal from Iraq.
- Power vacuum exploited by the AQI.
- Syrian civil war helped it grow and spread further.
- 2013 – from AQI to ISIS.
- June 2014 – ISIS to IS | vast territories in Iraq and Syria seized.
- A third of Syria | + | 40% of Iraq.
- June 29, 2014 | a caliphate in Iraq and Syria was declared.
- By IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi | from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq.
- Public beheadings | Western captives.
- Active cyber and social media presence.
- Global recruitment | foreign fighters | with many converts.
- August 7, 2014 | ant-IS offensive by a U.S.-led coalition begins | airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq.
- October 15, 2014 | Operation Inherent Resolve | name given to the anti-IS operations | by the US.
- 8,000 airstrikes I in Iraq and Syria.
- Fall | Dec 2017 | 95% of the territory lost.
- December 9, 2017 | Iraqi govt declares victory over ISIS.
- December 19, 2018 | US Prez Donald Trump | ISIS was defeated.
- March 23, 2019 | Baghouz, the last holdout | gone | last territory of the caliphate.
- October 26, 2019 | Abu Bakr al Baghdadi killed | US raid | Northern Syria.
- Still active | with many affiliates/branches.