Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
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| الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām Participant in the Iraq War (2003–2011), the Iraqi insurgency, the Syrian Civil War, the Iraqi Civil War, the Second Libyan Civil War, the Boko Haram insurgency, the War in North-West Pakistan, the War in Afghanistan, the Yemeni Civil War, and other conflicts Primary target of Operation Inherent Resolve and of the military intervention against ISIL in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Nigeria |
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1999–present
Established under the name of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad: 1999
Joined al-Qaeda: October 2004 Declaration of an Islamic state in Iraq: 13 October 2006 Claim of territory in the Levant: 8 April 2013 Separated from al-Qaeda: 3 February 2014 Declaration of caliphate: 29 June 2014 Claim of territory in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen: 13 November 2014 Claim of territory in South Asia: 29 January 2015 Claim of territory in Nigeria: 12 March 2015 Claim of territory in North Caucasus: 23 June 2015 Recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces: 20 July 2017 Capture of Raqqa by SDF forces: 17 October 2017 Loses all of its territory in Syria: 23 March 2019 Killing of Baghdadi: October 27, 2019 |
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| Area of operations |  ISIL's territory, in grey, at the time of its greatest territorial extent (May 2015). Map legend
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Iraqi government Syrian government Lebanese government Iraqi Kurdistan forces Syrian Kurdistan forces Syrian opposition forces Turkish Armed Forces Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) 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 Taliban insurgency |
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List of combatant numbers
Inside Syria and Iraq:
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
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| Originated as |  Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999) |
| Allies | See section |
| Opponents | State opponents
Many others
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or Islamic State, (IS) is a Sunni jihadist militant group. In Arabic it is often called "Daesh". It operates in Libya, Nigeria, Syria and a small part of northern Iraq. It is influenced by the Wahhabi version of Islam. It claims the status of independent state for the territories under its control in Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Syria. It is opposed to Shiism and has been described as "Shiaphobic".
The group was started in the early years of the Iraq War and associated itself with Al-Qaeda in 2004. ISIL was composed of different insurgent groups. Its aim was to establish a caliphate in the Sunni majority regions of Iraq, later expanding this to include Syria. In February 2014, after an eight-month power struggle, Al-Qaeda cut all ties with ISIL.
ISIL is millenarianist, meaning it believes that society is going to change a lot, and everything we know will end soon.
Contents
Fighting
At the height of the Iraq War, ISIL was in the Iraqi provinces of Al Anbar, Ninawa, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil, Diyala and Baghdad. It claimed Baqubah as its capital. In the ongoing Syrian Civil War, the group has a large presence in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqa, Idlib and Aleppo.
The group has attacked government and military targets. It has claimed responsibility for attacks that killed thousands of Iraqi civilians. During the time coalition forces were present in Iraq, the group suffered some setbacks. By 2012, it was thought to have regained most of its strength and more than doubled the number of its members to about 2,500.
In 2013, a letter and an audio recording of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, was leaked to Al Jazeera. In it, al-Zawahiri disbanded the Syrian faction of ISIL. The group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, opposed this ruling on the basis of Islamic law. The group has since continued to operate in Syria. Starting in April 2013, it made rapid military gains in large parts of Northern Syria, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described them as "the strongest group".
Worldwide Caliphate
In June 2014, it announced a worldwide caliphate. In 2014, ISIL successfully fought in a large-scale offensive in Iraq. After this offensive, ISIL is reported to have seized control of most of Mosul, the second biggest city in Iraq, its surrounding Nineveh province, and the city of Fallujah. In the spring of 2015 ISIL fought for control of Tikrit, the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.
In spring of 2016 the Army of Iraq took back Fallujah. At the end of 2016 the army took back Ramadi in Al Anbar Province, and in early 2017 Iraqi government forces retook Mosul. In October Raqqa, the former headquarters, fell.
Film
The 2014 film The Blue Man, which is related to The New York Times article titled "Uncovering Iraq's Horrors in Desert Graves" written by John F. Burns, also mentions mass killings of Shia Muslims by the Islamic State between 2003 to 2006.
Images for kids
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The Al-Askari Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, after the first attack by Islamic State of Iraq in 2006
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Mugshot of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US armed forces while in detention at Camp Bucca in 2004
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The UN headquarters building in Baghdad after the Canal Hotel bombing, on 22 August 2003
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ISIL's capital Raqqa suffered extensive damage during the battle of Raqqa in June–October 2017
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Supporters of the Turkish Labour Party protesting in London following the 2015 Ankara bombings
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Airstrikes in Syria by 24 September 2014
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Liberation of Palmyra by the Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition in March 2016
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Russian Sukhoi Su-34 in Syria
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Military Situation in Iraq in May 2020
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