History of the Islamic State

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History of the Islamic State
Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (1999‑2004) Al-Qaeda in Iraq (2004‑2006) Jama'at Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jama'ah (2004‑2006) Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah (2004‑2006) Mujahideen Shura Council (2006) Islamic State of Iraq (2006‑2013) Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013‑2014) Islamic State (2014‑present)
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Administrative divisions Beheadings Claimed oil fields Destruction of cultural heritage Human rights Ideology Jihadist flag Members Military List of battles Territorial claims Timeline of terrorist incidents
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The origins of the Islamic State group can be traced back to three main organizations. Earliest of these was the "Jamāʻat al-Tawḥīd wa-al-Jihād" (transl. "The Organisation of Monotheism and Jihad") organization, founded by the Jihadist leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi in Jordan in 1999. The other two predecessor organizations emerged during the Iraqi insurgency against the U.S. occupation forces. These included the "Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah" (transl. "Army of the Victorious Sect") group founded by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi in 2004 and the "Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah" (transl. "Army of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah") group founded by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his associates in the same year.^[1]

The group went through a number of name changes as it declared itself not just an organization but a state, and then declared itself as a worldwide caliphate. In 2004, it became Tanẓīm Qāʻidat al-Jihād fī Bilād al-Rāfidayn, commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), when al-Zarqawi gave bay'ah to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The same year, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi established the "Jaish al-Ta'ifa al-Mansurah" (JTM) and "Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama’ah" (JASJ) groups which were allied to al-Qaeda during the early Iraqi insurgency. In January 2006, various Islamist insurgent groups (including AQI, JTM and JASJ) formed a coalition known as the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSM).

A few months after the death of al-Zarqawi in June 2006, MSM announced its dissolution and declared the establishment of an independent organization known as the "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI), under the leadership of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. ISI participated in the Iraqi insurgency between 2006 and 2011 that sought the end of US occupation of Iraq. In 2010, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was killed during a military raid by US forces near Tikrit, paving the way for the succession of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who became the second Emir of ISI.

In 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared his intention to forcibly merge Al-Nusra Front (which it claimed to have established and supported) with ISI and announced the formation of "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant". Al-Qaeda Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri denounced the merger proposal and demanded the abolishment of the new organization, publicly declaring that Al-Nusra Front was the branch of al-Qaeda in Syria. Zawahiri's mediation was rejected by al-Baghdadi, resulting in the eruption of armed conflict between ISIL and al-Qaeda and its allies. In 2014, ISIL proclaimed itself a worldwide caliphate and changed its name to the Islamic State which in a year grew to control territory with a population of millions. On 27 October 2019, al-Baghdadi killed himself to avoid capture during a U.S. raid in northwestern Syria.^[2] The group had lost its territory and was back to insurgency mode, though it did not change its name again.^[3]