https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_LevantThe Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, IPA /ˈaɪsÉ™l/), alternatively translated the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS, /ˈaɪsɨs/),[29] is a Salafi jihadist militant group that adheres to an Islamic fundamentalist, Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam.[30] Derived from its Arabic name ad-Dawlah al-IslÄmiyah fÄ« ‘l-Ê¿IrÄq wa-sh-ShÄm (الدولة الإسلامية ÙÙŠ العراق والشام‎), the group is also known under the acronym Da’ish or Daesh (داعش‎, IPA: [ˈdaËÊ•iʃ]).[31][32]
The group has referred to itself as the Islamic State (الدولة الإسلامية‎ ad-Dawlah al-IslÄmiyah) or IS[33] since it proclaimed a worldwide caliphate in June 2014[34][35] and named Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its caliph.[36] As a caliphate, it claims religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide.[37] The group’s adoption of the name “Islamic State” and idea of a caliphate have been widely criticised, with the United Nations, various governments, and mainstream Muslim groups rejecting both. As of December 2015, the group has control over vast territories in Iraq and Syria with population estimates ranging between 2.8 million[38] and 8 million people,[39] where it enforces Sharia law. ISIL affiliates control small areas of Libya, Nigeria and Afghanistan and operate in other parts of the world, including North Africa and South Asia.[40][41][42]
ISIL gained prominence, when in early 2014 it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive,[43] followed by the capture of Mosul[44] and the Sinjar massacre,[45] almost causing a collapse of the Iraqi government and prompting a renewal of US military action in Iraq. In Syria, the group has conducted ground attacks on both government forces and rebel factions. The number of fighters the group commands in Iraq and Syria, was estimated by the CIA at 31,000, with foreign fighters accounting for around two thirds,[46] while ISIL leaders claim 40,000 fighters, with the majority being Iraqi and Syrian nationals.[26]
Adept at social media, ISIL became notorious for its videos of beheadings[47] of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and for the destruction of cultural heritage sites.[48] The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has charged the group with ethnic cleansing on a “historic scale” in northern Iraq.[49] Around the world, Islamic religious leaders have overwhelmingly condemned ISIL’s ideology and actions, arguing that the group has strayed from the path of true Islam and that its actions do not reflect the religion’s real teachings or virtues.[50] The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union and its member states, the United States, India, Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and other countries. Over 60 countries are directly or indirectly waging war against ISIL.
The group originated as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and participated in the Iraqi insurgency following the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces. Joining other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council, it proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in October 2006. In August 2011, following the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, ISI, under the leadership of al-Baghdadi, delegated a mission into Syria, which under the name Jabhat an-Nuá¹£rah li-Ahli ash-ShÄm (or al-Nusra Front) established a large presence in Sunni-majority Al-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo provinces. The merger of ISI with al-Nusra Front to form the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL), as announced in April 2013 by al-Baghdadi, was however rejected by al-Nusra leader al-Julani and al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri, who subsequently cut all ties with ISIL by February 2014.[3][51][52][53]
The group has had various names since being founded in 1999 by Jordanian radical Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as JamÄÊ»at al-Tawḥīd wa-al-JihÄd (lit. ”The Organisation of Monotheism and Jihad”).[28] When in October 2004, al-Zarqawi swore loyalty to Osama bin Laden, he renamed the group again to Tanẓīm QÄÊ»idat al-JihÄd fÄ« BilÄd al-RÄfidayn (lit. ”The Organisation of Jihad’s Base in Mesopotamia”), commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq or AQI.[54][55] Although the group never called itself so, al-Qaeda in Iraq remained its informal name over the years.[56]
In January 2006, AQI merged with several other Sunni insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura Council.[57] After al-Zarqawi was killed in June 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Council merged in October 2006 with several more insurgent factions to establish ad-Dawlah al-Ê»Iraq al-IslÄmiyah, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI),[58] led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri,[59] who were killed in a US–Iraqi operation in April 2010, being succeeded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the group’s new leader.
