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1 1 (May 10, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedge0001 and id is 1 raw text is: C ressionW flesesrch Santa tFWA k~iatt~ d~4 si~e ~914 Updated May 10, 2021 The Islamic State The Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL, ISIS, or the Arabic acronymDa 'esh) is a trans national Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group. At its 2015 height, the group controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria, including some cities, from which it launched attacks in the region and beyond. While the group no longer controls territory outright in Syria and Iraq, U.S. military officials warn that it has maintained a low-levelinsurgency and has worked to expand its globalpresencevia a burgeoning number of affiliate groups. The 2021 Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) warned that the Islamic State and sometimes rival AlQaeda have shown great resiliency and together remain the the greatest Sunni terrorist threats to U.S. interests overseas. Origins and Leadership The Islamic State grew out of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), formerly known as AlQaeda in Iraq (AQI).In 2011, some ISI members traveled to Syria to establish a new AlQaeda affiliate there, known as the Nusra Front. In 2013, then -ISI leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi announced that ISI and the Nusra Front had merged into the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham(ISIS/ISIL). Al Qaeda rejected Baghdadi's move to subsume the Nusra Frontunder his leadership, and severed ties with the group in 2014. Baghdadi later declaired the establishmentofa caliphate andrenamed the group, calling it the Islamic State. In March 2019, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) capturedthe group's last territorial outpost in Syria. Baghdadiwas killed in a U.S. raid on his compound in northern Syria in October that year. He was succeeded as IS leader by Amir Muhammad Said Abd al Rahman al Mawla, often referred to as Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al Qurayshi. Current Status: Syria and Iraq The Islamic State continues to wage a low-levelinsurgency acros s Syria and Iraq, with an estimated force of8,000 to 16,000 fighters. U.S. officials indicated in early 2021 that the group continued to spread its ideology among vulnerable populations, including IS family members at Al Hol camp and other internally displaced and conflict- affected communities. The U.S.-led counter-IS Coalition operates in northeast and southeast Syria; IS activity continues in areas where the Coalition is not active. Select Global Affiliate Groups Since 2014, local armed groups in various countries have affiliated with the Islamic State. Their goals, tactics, and leadership structures vary and haveevolved over time, and the threats they pose to U.S. interests also vary. After the group's territorial defeatin Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials warned that IS leadership aimed to expandelsewhere, notably in Africa. As of2021, the U.S. State Department has designated nine groups worldwide as IS affiliates and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Midd le East/North Africa Islamic State Sinai Province, formerly known as Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, pledged allegiance to theIslamic State in 2014. Based in Egypt's North Sinai, the group claimed responsibility for the 2015 bombing of a Rus sian passenger plane, which killed 231 people, and is believed to have carried out a 2017 attack on a mosque in the Sinai, which killed more than 300 people. In 2021, the group has continued to target Egyptiansecurity personnel. Islamic State in Libya. IS-Libya was establishedin 2014. U.S. airs trikes significantly weakened the group, helping oust it fromits last strongholdin the city of Sirte in 2016. In late 2020, U.S. military officials assessed that IS-Libya posed only a minimal threat to U.S. interests in Libya. Islamic State Khorasan Province was established in Afghanistan in 2015 by Pakistani, Afghan, and Central Asian militants. The grouphas condemned peacetalks between the United States andthe Taliban, andhas sought to recruit dis affected Taliban members. In late 2020, the group carried outtwo highprofile attacks in Kabul. Sub-Saharan Africa Islamic State West Africa Province was formed in 2015 as an offshoot of the Nigerian Islamist armed group Boko Haram, and has gro wn to s urp ass it in size and capacity. It operates in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Chad. Islamic State Greater Sahara emerged in 2015 as an offshoot of Al Murabitoun-itself an offshoot of Algerian- led Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group operates in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso; a 2017 ambush by the group in Niger killed four U.S. soldiers. IS media has portrayed the group as part of or subordinate to its West Africa province,but thegroupsmay operateindependently. Islamic State Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was established in 2019 as are-branding of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a long -active insurgent group. ADF attacks in 2020 killed 849 civilians, according to U.N. reporting. Islamic State Mozambique, known locally as Al Shabaab (no relation to the Al Qaeda-affiliated Somali group of the s ame name), affiliated with the Islamic State in 2019. Since 2017, the group has killed nearly 1,400 civilians and caused the displacementof more than 700,000 people in northern Mozambique. IS media refers to IS-DRC and IS- Mozambique jointly as the Islamic State Central Africa Province; the State Department describes the affiliates as distinct groups. South and East Asia Islamic State Philippines, now known as Islamic State East Asia, is comprised ofremnants of the Abu Sayyaf Group and other local militant groups. The group pledged https ://crs rept

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