Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
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Name	Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Founded	1999 (as Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād); 2006 (as Islamic State of Iraq); 2013 (as ISIL)
Founder	Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Active	1999–present (declared caliphate 2014–2019)
Area	Iraq; Syria; provinces in Libya; Sinai; Yemen; West Africa; Khorasan
Ideology	Salafi jihadism; Takfiri doctrine; Pan-Islamism
Status	Degraded territorial control; transnational insurgent networks

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a transnational jihadist organization that rose from insurgent networks in Iraq and Syria to declare a self-styled caliphate in 2014, prompting a global security crisis involving Iraq War, Syrian Civil War, and regional conflicts in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Afghanistan. Prominent for territorial governance, propaganda, and brutal tactics, it influenced groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Nusra Front, and affiliates in Sahel and Khorasan Province, provoking international coalitions led by United States and Russian Federation to counter its expansion.

Background and Origins

Emerging from the milieu of the Iraq War insurgency and the legacy of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group traces organizational roots to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and networks active in Fallujah, Ramadi, and Samarra. After Zarqawi's death and the 2006 formation of Islamic State of Iraq, veterans of the Anbar Awakening and the 2007 surge intersected with cross-border fighters from the Syrian Civil War and veterans of the Afghan jihad, leading to a rebranding amid fractures with Al-Qaeda and conflict with Jabhat al-Nusra. The Syrian battlefield, including battles for Raqqa and Aleppo, provided the strategic conditions for rapid expansion and declaration of a caliphate under Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Ideology and Goals

The organization adheres to an extreme interpretation of Salafism and Takfirism, rejecting international norms and asserting authority to establish a caliphate modeled on selective readings of historical caliphates such as the Caliphate of Cordoba or the Ottoman Empire by appeal to medieval jurisprudence. It seeks territorial control across Iraq and Syria and to inspire global affiliates and lone-actor attacks in cities like Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul to destabilize states perceived as apostate, challenging actors including Iran and Saudi Arabia and targeting minorities exemplified by Yazidis and Christians of the Middle East.

Organization and Leadership

Leadership succession included figures such as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and later commanders linked to operational planning in Mosul and Raqqa. The group developed hierarchical provincial structures—wilayat—across Libya, Sinai Peninsula, Nigeria (aligned with Boko Haram), Somalia (competing with Al-Shabaab), and Afghanistan (Khorasan Province), with specialized units for media, finance, and governance drawing on cadres from former Ba'athist Iraqi Armed Forces and foreign fighters from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Europe. Rivalries with Al-Qaeda and negotiations with local militias shaped internal dynamics while targeted killings by United States special operations and coalition air campaigns affected leadership continuity.

Major Operations and Territorial Control

At its zenith the group captured major urban centers including Mosul, Raqqa, Palmyra, and parts of Tikrit, implementing administration, taxation, and courts based on its ideology. It conducted large-scale offensives and defensive battles such as the Battle of Mosul (2016–17), Operation Euphrates Shield, and the seizure and loss of Palmyra against Syrian Arab Army and Russian Armed Forces airpower. The loss of Raqqa and Mosul marked a territorial collapse, but the organization retained insurgent capabilities, conducting suicide bombings, IED attacks, and prison breaks in Kirkuk, Baghdad, and Damascus environs while affiliates maintained varying degrees of territorial influence in Derna and pockets in the Sahel.

Financing and Resources

Revenue streams combined illicit trade, oil production from fields near Deir ez-Zor, extortion and taxation of local populations, antiquities smuggling via networks reaching Turkey and Lebanon, ransom payments from kidnappings (including foreign hostages), and donations routed through sympathetic networks in Gulf Cooperation Council states and diaspora communities in Europe. Capture of oil infrastructure and urban economies in Mosul and Raqqa provided substantial short-term funding until coalition airstrikes, sanctions, and interdiction efforts by entities such as Interpol and national intelligence services degraded those revenues.

Human Rights Abuses and War Crimes

The organization perpetrated mass atrocities documented by human rights organizations and tribunals, including executions, sexual slavery, forced displacement, and cultural heritage destruction at sites like Palmyra Archaeological Site and manuscript collections in Mosul Museum. Targeted campaigns against Yazidis led to declarations of genocide by some parliaments, while sectarian massacres, use of child soldiers, and publicized beheadings prompted criminal investigations by authorities in Iraq and Syria and war crimes referrals to international bodies.

International Response and Counterterrorism Efforts

A multinational response involved the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS led by the United States Department of Defense and regional partners including Turkey, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, France, and United Kingdom, employing air campaigns, ground support to Syrian Democratic Forces, and intelligence sharing with Federal Bureau of Investigation and Europol. Parallel diplomatic efforts engaged United Nations Security Council resolutions, sanctions by United Nations, and bilateral training programs for Iraqi Army and counterterrorism units. Rival interventions by Russian Federation and Iranian-backed militias altered battlefield dynamics, while post-conflict stabilization, de-radicalization, and prosecution of foreign fighters in courts such as national tribunals and military commissions remain ongoing challenges.

Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by multiple states