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![handle is hein.crs/govegkg0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Informing
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Updated May 10, 2022
The Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL, ISIS, or the
Arabic acronym Da 'esh) is a transnational 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 maintains a low-level insurgency and has worked to
expand its global presence via a burgeoning number of
affiliate groups. The 2022 Annual Threat Assessment of the
U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) stated that ISIS leaders
remain committed to their vision of building a self-styled
global caliphate headquartered in Iraq and Syria and are
working to rebuild capabilities and wear down opponents
until conditions are ripe for seizing and holding territory.
Origins and Leadership
The Islamic State grew out of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI),
formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). In 2011, some
ISI members traveled to Syria to establish a new Al Qaeda
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 Front under his leadership, and
severed ties with the group in 2014. Baghdadi later declared
the establishment of a caliphate and renamed the group,
calling it the Islamic State. In March 2019, the U.S.-backed
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured the group's last
territorial outpost in Syria. Baghdadi died in a U.S. raid on
his compound in northern Syria in October 2019. He was
succeeded as IS leader by Abu Ibrahim al Hashimi al
Qurayshi. In February 2022, a U.S. military operation in
Idlib resulted in the death of Qurayshi, also known as Hajji
Abdullah. In March the group named a new leader. Some
reports identified him as Juma Awad al Badri, an Iraqi
national and brother of former IS leader Baghdadi.
Current Status: Syria and Iraq
The Islamic State continues to wage a low-level insurgency
across Syria and Iraq. In 2021, U.S. Central Command
(CENTCOM) assessed that, ISIS likely has sufficient
manpower and resources to operate indefinitely at its
present level in the Syrian desert.
Islamic State Detainees. The SDF continue to hold about
10,000 IS fighters in detention facilities across northern
Syria. In January 2022, U.S. air and ground forces in Syria
joined SDF partner forces in a lengthy battle to retake a
prison seized by IS fighters. It was the largest U.S. military
engagement with the Islamic State since 2019. The SDF
also retains custody of about 57,000 people linked to the
Islamic State (mostly women and children) at the Al Hol
IDP camp. U.S. military officials have warned of ongoing
IS radicalization and recruitment efforts at the camp.
Select Global Affiliate Groups
Since 2014, local armed groups in various countries have
affiliated with the Islamic State, with varied and evolving
goals, tactics, and leadership structures. The threats they
pose to U.S. interests also vary. After the group's territorial
defeat in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials warned that IS
leadership aimed to expand elsewhere, notably in Africa.
The State Department's 2020 Country Reports on
Terrorism reported that, ISIS affiliates outside Iraq and
Syria caused more fatalities during 2020 than in any
previous year [ ... ] Deaths attributable to ISIS-affiliated
attacks in West Africa alone almost doubled from around
2,700 in 2017 to nearly 5,000 in 2020. As of 2022, the
U.S. State Department has designated nine groups
worldwide as IS affiliates and Foreign Terrorist
Organizations (FTOs).
Middle EastlNorth Africa
Islamic State Sinai Province, formerly known as Ansar
Bayt al Maqdis, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in
2014. Based in Egypt's North Sinai, the group claimed
responsibility for the 2015 bombing of a Russian passenger
plane, killing 231 people, and is believed to have carried
out a 2017 attack on a mosque in the Sinai, killing more
than 300 people. In 2021, the group continued to target
Egyptian security personnel.
Islamic State in Libya. IS-Libya was established in 2014.
U.S. airstrikes weakened the group, helping oust it from its
last stronghold in 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. In mid-2021, the
group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a
checkpoint that killed two security personnel.
Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) was established
in Afghanistan in 2015 by Pakistani, Afghan, and Central
Asian militants. ISKP opposes the Taliban, and has
accelerated attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban's
return to power in 2021. U.S. officials in March 2022
assessed that ISKP could establish an external attack
capability against the United States or its allies in twelve to
eighteen months.
Su b-Sahardn Africa
Islamic State West Africa Province was formed in 2015
as an offshoot of the Nigerian Islamist armed group Boko
Haram, and has grown to surpass 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 elevated IS-GS
to its own province in 2022.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govegkg0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)