Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

ISIL, Isil and ISIS redirect here. For other

uses, see ISIL (disambiguation) and Isis (disambiguation).

al-Mu'minin, Caliph Ibrahimwas named its caliph,

and the group was renamed the Islamic State.[25] As
caliphate it claims religious authority over all Muslims
worldwide,[26][27] and aims to bring Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its control, beginning with Iraq
and the Levant region, which approximately covers Syria,
Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Cyprus, and part of
southern Turkey.[28] Groups controlling territory in Sinai
and eastern Libya have been absorbed by ISIL.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL

/asl/), also translated as the Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria (ISIS /ass/), also known by the Arabic
acronym Daish, and self-proclaimed as the Islamic
State (IS),[lower-alpha 1] is a Sunni, extremist, jihadist rebel
group controlling territory in Iraq, Syria, eastern Libya,
ISIL is widely known for its violent propaganda, which
and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
includes Internet videos of beheadings. (See 2014 ISIL
The United Nations has accused the group of human beheading incidents.)
rights abuses, and Amnesty International has reported
ethnic cleansing by the group on a historic scale. Its actions have been widely criticized around the world, with 1 History
many Islamic communities judging the group to be unrepresentative of Islam. The group has been designated
as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the See also: Timeline of Islamic State of Iraq and the
European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Levant events, Islamic State of Iraq Timeline, Syrian
Australia, Canada, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Civil War Course of events and Terrorist incidents in
Iraq in 2014
Israel.
The group originated as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
in 1999, which was renamed Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad Outline of history with links to content below
Bilad al-Radayncommonly known as Al-Qaeda
As Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Group of
in Iraq (AQI)in 2004. Following the 2003 invasion
Monotheism and Jihad) (19992004)
of Iraq, AQI took part in the Iraqi insurgency. In
2006, it joined other Sunni insurgent groups to form the
As Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad Bilad al-Radayn
Mujahideen Shura Council, which consolidated further
(al-Qaeda in Iraq) (200406)
into the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) shortly afterwards. The
As Mujahideen Shura Council (2006)
ISI gained a signicant presence in Al Anbar, Nineveh,
As Islamic State of Iraq (200613)
Kirkuk and other areas, but around 2008, its violent
As Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (2013
methods, including suicide attacks on civilian targets and
14)
the widespread killing of prisoners, led to a backlash from
Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent groups.[lower-alpha 2]
As Islamic State (2014present)
In April 2013, the group changed its name to the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant. It grew signicantly under
the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and after enter- 1.1 Names
ing the Syrian Civil War, it established a large presence
in the Syrian governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez- The group[29]has had various names since it was
Zor and Aleppo.[21] ISIL had close links to al-Qaeda until established.
February 2014 when, after an eight-month power strug1. The group was founded in 1999 by Abu Musab algle, al-Qaeda cut all ties with the group, citing its failure
[22]
Zarqawi under the name Jamat al-Tawd wa-alto consult and notorious intransigence.
Jihd, The Organization of Monotheism and Jihad
The groups original aim was to establish an Islamic
(JTJ).[13]
state in Sunni-majority regions of Iraq, and after it
2. In October 2004, al-Zarqawi swore loyalty to Osama
joined the Syrian Civil War, this extended to include
bin Laden and changed the groups name to Tanm
Sunni-majority areas of Syria.[23] On 29 June 2014,
the group proclaimed a worldwide caliphate,[24] Abu
Qidat al-Jihd f Bild al-Rdayn, The OrganiBakr al-Baghdadiknown by his supporters as Amir
zation of Jihads Base in Mesopotamia", commonly
1

HISTORY

known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq. (AQI).[29][30] Although Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the Jordathe group has never called itself Al-Qaeda in Iraq, nian Sala Jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his milithis has been its informal name over the years.[31]
tant group Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, founded in 1999,
achieved notoriety in the early stages of the Iraq in3. In January 2006, AQI merged with several other surgency, by not only carrying out attacks on coalition
Iraqi insurgent groups to form the Mujahideen Shura forces but conducting suicide attacks on civilian targets
Council.[32] Al-Zarqawi was killed in June 2006.
and beheading hostages.[13][49]
4. On 12 October 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Council merged with several more insurgent factions,
and on 13 October the establishment of the Dawlat
al-Iraq al-Islmyah, Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)
was announced.[29][33] The leaders of this group
were Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi and Abu
Ayyub al-Masri.[34] After they were killed in a
USIraqi operation in April 2010, Abu Bakr alBaghdadi became the new leader of the group..

Al-Zarqawis group grew in strength and attracted more

ghters, and in October 2004 it ocially pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, changing
its name to Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad Bilad al-Radayn
( , Organization of Jihads
Base in Mesopotamia"), also known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq
(AQI).[14][50][51] Attacks by the group on civilians, the
Iraqi Government and security forces continued to increase over the next two years. (See list of major resistance attacks in Iraq.)[52] In a letter to al-Zarqawi in
July 2005, al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
outlined a four-stage plan to expand the Iraq War, which
included expelling US forces from Iraq, establishing an
Islamic authority, as caliphate, spreading the conict to
Iraqs secular neighbors, and engaging in the ArabIsraeli
conict.[53]

5. On 8 April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the

group adopted the name Islamic State of Iraq and
al-Sham, which more fully translates as Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant or Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria.[35][36][37] These names are translations of the
Arabic name al-Dawlah al-Islmyah f al-Irq waal-Shm,[38][39] al-Shm being a description of the
Levant or Greater Syria.[40] The translated names In January 2006, AQI merged with several smaller
Iraqi insurgent groups under an umbrella organization
are commonly abbreviated as ISIL or ISIS.
called the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC). This was
6. The name Daish is often used by ISILs Arabic- claimed by Brian Fishman in the Annals of the Amerispeaking detractors. It is based on the Arabic can Academy of Political and Social Science to be little
letters dl, alif, ayn, and shn, which form the more than a media exercise and an attempt to give the
acronym ( )of ISILs Arabic name al-Dawlah group a more Iraqi avour and perhaps to distance alal-Islamyah f al-Irq wa-al-Shm.[41][42] There Qaeda from some of al-Zarqawis tactical errors, notably
are many dierent spellings of this acronym. ISIL the 2005 bombings by AQI of three hotels in Amman.[54]
considers the name Da'ish derogatoryit is thought On 7 June, al-Zarqawi was killed in a US airstrike and was
to translate as to tread underfoot, trample down, succeeded as leader of the group by the Egyptian militant
crush[43] and reportedly uses ogging as a punish- Abu Ayyub al-Masri.[55][56]
ment for those who use the name in ISIL-controlled On 12 October 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Counareas.[44][45]
cil joined four more insurgent factions and the repre7. On 14 May 2014, the United States Department of
State announced its decision to use Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as the groups primary name.[41] Which of these acronyms should be
used to designate the group, ISIL or ISIS, has been
debated,[39][40] with The Washington Post concluding that the distinction between the two is not so
great."[40]

sentatives of a number of Iraqi Arab tribes, and together they swore the traditional Arab oath of allegiance
known as ilf al-Muayyabn (Oath of the Scented
Ones).[lower-alpha 4][57][58] During the ceremony, the participants swore to free Iraqs Sunnis from what they described as Shia and foreign oppression, and to further the
name of Allah and restore Islam to glory.[lower-alpha 5][57]

On 13 October 2006, the Mujahideen Shura Council

declared the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq
8. On 29 June 2014, the group renamed itself the (ISI), comprising Iraqs six mostly Sunni Arab goverIslamic State (IS) and declared its government a norates, with Abu Omar al-Baghdadi being announced as
caliphate.[25][46][47][lower-alpha 3]
its Emir.[33][52] Al-Masri was given the title of Minister
of War within the ISIs ten-member cabinet.[59] The declaration of statehood was met with hostile criticism, not
1.2 Foundation of the group (19992006) only from ISIs jihadist rivals in Iraq, but from leading
jihadist ideologues outside the country.[60]
Main articles: Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, Tanzim
Qaidat al-Jihad Bilad al-Radayn and Mujahideen
Shura Council (Iraq)

1.3

As Islamic State of Iraq (20062013)

inated by foreign individuals has now become more and

more dominated by Iraqi citizens.[71] On 18 April 2010,
the ISIs two top leaders, Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu
Omar al-Baghdadi, were killed in a joint US-Iraqi raid
near Tikrit.[72] In a press conference in June 2010, General Odierno reported that 80% of the ISIs top 42 leaders, including recruiters and nanciers, had been killed or
captured, with only eight remaining at large. He said that
they had been cut o from al-Qaedas leadership in Pakistan, and that improved intelligence had enabled the successful mission in April that led to the killing of al-Masri
and al-Baghdadi; in addition, the number of attacks and
casualty gures in Iraq for the rst ve months of 2010
A joint USIraqi training exercise near Ramadi in November
were the lowest since 2003.[73][74][75]
2009. The Islamic State of Iraq had declared the city to be its
capital.

1.3

As Islamic State of Iraq (20062013)

Main article: Islamic State of Iraq

According to a study compiled by US intelligence agencies in early 2007, the ISIalso known as AQIplanned
to seize power in the central and western areas of the
country and turn it into a Sunni Islamic state.[61] The
group built in strength and at its height enjoyed a signicant presence in the Iraqi governorates of Al Anbar,
Nineveh, Kirkuk, most of Salah ad Din, parts of Babil,
Pair of armed anti-American insurgents from northern Iraq
Diyala and Baghdad, and claimed Baqubah as a capital
city.[62][63][64][65]
However, by late 2007, violent and indiscriminate attacks
directed by rogue AQI elements against Iraqi civilians had
severely damaged the groups image and caused a loss of
support among the population, thus isolating it. In a major blow to AQI, many former Sunni militants who had
previously fought alongside the group started to work with
the US armed forces. The US troops surge supplied the
military with more manpower for operations targeting the
group, resulting in dozens of high-level AQI members being captured or killed.[66]

On 16 May 2010, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was appointed

the new leader of the Islamic State of Iraq.[76][77] AlBaghdadi replenished the groups leadership, many of
whom had been killed or captured, by appointing former Ba'athist military and intelligence ocers who had
served during the Saddam Hussein regime. These men,
nearly all of whom had spent time imprisoned by the US
military, came to make up about one-third of Baghdadis
top 25 commanders. One of them was a former Colonel,
Samir al-Khlifawi, also known as Haji Bakr, who became
Al-Qaeda seemed to have lost its foothold in Iraq and the overall military commander in charge of overseeing
appeared to be severely crippled.[67] During 2008, a se- the groups operations.[78][79]
ries of US and Iraqi oensives managed to drive out the In July 2012, al-Baghdadi released an audio statement onAQI-aligned insurgents from their former safe havens, line announcing that the group was returning to the forsuch as the Diyala and Al Anbar governorates and the mer strongholds from which US troops and their Sunni
embattled capital of Baghdad, to the area of the north- allies had driven them prior to the withdrawal of US
ern city of Mosul, the latest of the Iraq Wars major troops.[80] He also declared the start of a new oensive in
battlegrounds.[68] By 2008, the ISI was describing itself Iraq called Breaking the Walls, which was aimed at freeas being in a state of extraordinary crisis.[69] Its vio- ing members of the group held in Iraqi prisons.[80] Violent attempts to govern its territory led to a backlash from lence in Iraq began to escalate that month, and by July
Sunni Iraqis and other insurgent groups and a temporary 2013, monthly fatalities had exceeded 1,000 for the rst
decline in the group, which was attributable to a number time since April 2008.[81] The Breaking the Walls camof factors,[70] notably the Anbar Awakening.
paign culminated in July 2013, with the group carrying
In late 2009, the commander of the US forces in Iraq, out simultaneous raids on Taji and Abu Ghraib prison,
General Ray Odierno, stated that the ISI has transformed freeing more than 500 prisoners, many of them veterans
signicantly in the last two years. What once was dom- of the Iraqi insurgency.[81][82]

1.4

HISTORY

As Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant exit from Syria into Turkey.[91] Foreign ghters in Syria
include Russian-speaking jihadists who were part of Jaish
(20132014)

al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (JMA).[92] In November 2013,

the JMAs Chechen leader Abu Omar al-Shishani swore
1.4.1 Syrian Civil War
an oath of allegiance to al-Baghdadi;[93] the group then
split between those who followed al-Shishani in joining
In March 2011, protests began in Syria against the gov- ISIL and those who continued to operate independently
ernment of Bashar al-Assad. In the following months, in the JMA under new leadership.[94]
violence between demonstrators and security forces led
to a gradual militarisation of the conict.[83] In August In January 2014, rebels aliated with[95]the Islamic Front
2011, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi began sending Syrian and and the US-trained Free Syrian Army launched an ofmilitants in and around the city of
Iraqi ISI members experienced in guerilla warfare across fensive against ISIL
[96][97]
Aleppo
in
Syria.
the border into Syria in order to establish an organization inside the country. Led by a Syrian known as Abu In May 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri ordered al-Nusra Front
Muhammad al-Jawlani, this group began to recruit ght- to stop attacks on its rival ISIL.[98] In June 2014, afers and establish cells throughout the country.[84][85] On ter continued ghting between the two groups, al-Nusras
23 January 2012, the group announced its formation as branch in the Syrian town of Al-Bukamal pledged alleJabhat al-Nusra li Ahl as-ShamJabhat al-Nusramore giance to ISIL.[99][100]
commonly known as the al-Nusra Front. al-Nusra grew
In mid-June 2014, ISIL captured the Trabil crossing on
rapidly into a capable ghting force, with popular support
the JordanIraq border,[101] the only border crossing be[84]
among Syrians opposed to the Assad regime.
tween the two countries.[102] ISIL has received some pubOn 8 April 2013, al-Baghdadi released an audio state- lic support in Jordan, albeit limited, partly owing to state
ment in which he announced that al-Nusra Front had been repression there,[103] but has undertaken a recruitment
established, nanced and supported by the Islamic State drive in Saudi Arabia,[104] where tribes in the north are
of Iraq[86] and that the two groups were merging under the linked to those in western Iraq and eastern Syria.[105]
name Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham.[35] Al-Jawlani
<span id=""Islamic State (2014present)">
issued a statement denying the merger and complaining
that neither he nor anyone else in al-Nusras leadership
had been consulted about it.[87] In June 2013, Al Jazeera
reported that it had obtained a letter written by al-Qaeda's 1.5 As Islamic State (2014present)
leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, addressed to both leaders, in
which he ruled against the merger, and appointed an emis- See also: 2014 ISIL beheading incidents, American-led
sary to oversee relations between them to put an end to intervention in Syria, 2014 American-led intervention in
tensions.[88] In the same month, al-Baghdadi released an Iraq, 2014 Iranian-led intervention in Iraq, 2014 military
audio message rejecting al-Zawahiris ruling and declar- intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the
ing that the merger was going ahead.[89] In October 2013, Levant, Northern Iraq oensive (June 2014) and Turkish
al-Zawahiri ordered the disbanding of ISIL, putting al- involvement in the 2014 military intervention against
Nusra Front in charge of jihadist eorts in Syria,[90] but ISIL
al-Baghdadi contested al-Zawahiris ruling on the basis of
Islamic jurisprudence,[89] and his group continued to operate in Syria. In February 2014, after an eight-month On 29 June 2014, ISIL removed Iraq and the Levant from its name and began to refer to itself as the
power struggle, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with
Islamic State, proclaiming itself caliphate and naming
[22]
ISIL.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph.[25] The declaration as
According to journalist Sarah Birke, there are signicant caliphate has been criticized and ridiculed by Muslim
dierences between al-Nusra Front and ISIL. While al- scholars and rival Islamists inside and outside the occuNusra actively calls for the overthrow of the Assad gov- pied territory.[106][107][108][109][110]
ernment, ISIL tends to be more focused on establishing its own rule on conquered territory. ISIL is far Analysts described dropping the reference to region in its
more ruthless in building an Islamic state, carrying out new name as widening the groups scope, and terrorism
sectarian attacks and imposing sharia law immediately. analyst Laith Alkhouri believed that after capturing many
While al-Nusra has a large contingent of foreign ght- areas in Syria and Iraq the Islamic State had felt this was a
to take control of the global jihadist
ers, it is seen as a home-grown group by many Syrians; suitable opportunity
[111]
movement.
by contrast, ISIL ghters have been described as foreign
'occupiers" by many Syrian refugees.[91] It has a strong In June and July 2014, Jordan and Saudi Arabia moved
presence in central and northern Syria, where it has insti- troops to their borders with Iraq, after Iraq lost control
tuted sharia in a number of towns.[91] The group report- of, or withdrew from, strategic crossing points that had
edly controlled the four border towns of Atmeh, al-Bab, then come under the control of the Islamic State.[102][112]
Azaz and Jarablus, allowing it to control the entrance and There was speculation that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-

1.6

Timeline of recent events

Maliki had ordered a withdrawal of troops from the Iraq 1.6 Timeline of recent events
Saudi crossings in order to increase pressure on Saudi
Arabia and bring the threat of Isis over-running its bor- Main article: Timeline of Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant events
ders as well.[105]
See also: Islamic State of Iraq Timeline, Syrian Civil
In July 2014, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
War Course of events and Terrorist incidents in Iraq in
declared support for the new caliphate and Caliph
2014
[113]
In August, Shekau announced that Boko
Ibrahim.
Haram had captured the Nigerian town of Gwoza.
Shekau announced: Thanks be to God who gave victory An excerpt of recent events in the timeline is shown
to our brethren in Gwoza and made it a state among the below:
Islamic states.[114][115] Boko Haram launched an oensive in Adamawa and Borno States in northeastern Nige 16 November: ISIL released a video showing a
ria in September, following the example of the Islamic
beheaded American hostage, Peter Kassig, and
State.[116]
the beheading of 15 Syrian Army prisoners.[128]
Kurdish ghters captured six buildings from IsIn July 2014, the Islamic State recruited more than 6,300
lamic State militants besieging the Syrian town of
ghters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human
Kobani, and seized a large haul of their weapons and
Rights, some of whom were thought to have previously
ammunition.[129]
fought for the Free Syrian Army.[117]
On 3 August 2014, the Islamic State captured the towns
of Zumar, Sinjar and Wana in northern Iraq.[118]
The need for food and water of thousands of Yazidis, having ed up a mountain out of fear for approaching hostile ISIL militants, and the threat of genocide to Yazidis
and others as announced by ISIL, together with protecting
Americans in Iraq and supporting Iraq in its ght against
the Islamic State, were reasons for the US to launch a humanitarian mission on 7 August 2014 to aid those Yazidis
on that mountain[119] and to start an aerial bombing campaign in Iraq on 8 August against the Islamic Stateone
step in a new escalation of mutually hostile rhetoric and
actions between these two war opponents of 2003. Nevertheless, the United Nations concluded in September[120]
and October[121] that ISIL had killed thousands of Yazidis
in that region in August.
On 11 October 2014, ISIL dispatched 10,000 militants
from Syria and Mosul to capture the Iraqi capital city of
Baghdad,[122] and Iraqi Army forces and Anbar tribesmen
threatened to abandon their weapons if the US did not
send in ground troops to halt ISILs advance.[123] On 13
October, ISIL ghters advanced to within 25 kilometers
(15.5 miles) of the Baghdad Airport.[124]
At the end of October 2014, radical militants in control of
the Libyan city of Derna pledged their allegiance to Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi, thus making Derna the rst city outside Syria and Iraq a part of the so-called Islamic State
caliphate.[125]

22 November: A German father ghting at Mount

Sinjar asks for more US airstrikes in the region between Sinjar and Dahuk, so that he and his family
can go back to their lands and live in peace.[130]
23 November: Iraqi and Peshmerga forces began a
campaign to retake the towns of Jalawla and Saadiya
in the Diyala Governorate, with a senior ocial in
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party declaring the
liberation of both towns.[131] A Kurdish commander declared all of Jalawla to be under the control of
Peshmerga forces. Several casualties were sustained
by planted bombs left behind by ISIL, along with
dozens of soldiers wounded in the ghting.[132] Ammar Hikmat, deputy governor of Saladin Province,
announced a launch by Iraqi forces on ISIL on the
Baghdad-Samarra road.[133] Iraqi TV reported the
road successfully opened.[134]
25 November: The Syrian Air Force launched a
series of airstrikes on ISILs de facto capital ArRaqqah, killing at least 60 people.[135] A monitor
for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 63 deaths, with at least half of them
civilians.[136] The SOHR also reported the stoning
to death of two young men by ISIL, whom ISIL
claimed were gay. The killings occurred in Deir ezZor Governorate, one in Mayadin and the other in
Deir ez-Zor.[137]

more:
On 2 November 2014, in response to the US-led
airstrikes, representatives from Ahrar ash-Sham attended
a signicant meeting with the al-Nusra Front, the
Khorasan Group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Lev- 2 Criticism
ant, and Jund al-Aqsa, which sought to unite several hardline groups against the US-led Coalition and other moderate Syrian Rebel groups.[126] On 10 November 2014, 2.1 Human rights abuses
the Egyptian militant group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis also
In early September 2014, the United Nations Human
pledged its allegiance to ISIL.[127]
Rights Council agreed to send a team to Iraq and Syria to

2 CRITICISM

investigate the abuses and killings being carried out by the

ISIL on an unimaginable scale. Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad,
the newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, urged world leaders to step in to protect women
and children suering at the hands of ISIL militants, who
he said were trying to create a house of blood. He appealed to the international community to concentrate its
eorts on ending the conict in Iraq and Syria.[138]
There have been many reports of the groups use of death
threats, torture and mutilation to compel conversion to
Islam,[139][140] the killing of clerics who refuse to pledge
allegiance to the Islamic State,[141] mass killing of prisoners of war[142] and civilians,[143][144][145] and sexual enslavement of Iraqi women and girls, predominantly from
the minority Christian and Yazidi communities.[146]
2.1.1

War crimes accusations and ndings

In July 2014, the BBC reported the United Nations'

chief investigator as stating: Fighters from the Islamic
State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) may be added to a
list of war crimes suspects in Syria.[147] By June 2014,
according to United Nations reports, ISIL had killed
hundreds of prisoners of war[142] and killed over 1,000
civilians.[143][144][145]

the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014. Among

these people are Assyrian Christians, Turkmen Shia,
Shabak Shia, Yazidis, Kaka'i and Sabean Mandeans, who
have lived together for centuries in Nineveh province,
large parts of which are now under ISILs control.[156][157]
Among the known killings of religious and minority
group civilians carried out by ISIL are those in the villages and towns of Quiniyeh (7090 Yazidis killed),
Hardan (60 Yazidis killed), Sinjar (200500 Yazidis
killed), Ramadi Jabal (6070 Yazidis killed), Dhola (50
Yazidis killed), Khana Sor (100 Yazidis killed), Hardan
(250300 Yazidis killed), al-Shimal (dozens of Yazidis
killed), Khocho (400 Yazidis killed and 1,000 abducted),
Jadala (14 Yadizis killed)[158] and Beshir (700 Shia Turkmen killed),[159] and others committed near Mosul (670
Shia inmates of the Badush prison killed),[159] and in
Tal Afar prison, Iraq (200 Yazidis killed for refusing
conversion).[158] The UN estimated that 5,000 Yazidis
were killed by ISIL during the takeover of parts of northern Iraq in August 2014.[160]
In late May 2014, 150 Kurdish boys from Kobani aged
1416 were abducted and subjected to torture and abuse,
according to Human Rights Watch.[161]
In the Syrian towns of Ghraneij, Abu Haman and
Kashkiyeh 700 members of the Sunni Al Sheitaat tribe
were killed for attempting an uprising against ISIL
control.[162][163] The UN reported that in June 2014 ISIL
had killed a number of Sunni Islamic clerics who refused
to pledge allegiance to it.[141]

In August 2014, the UN accused ISIL of committing

mass atrocities and war crimes,[148][149] including the
mass killing of up to 250 Syrian Army soldiers near
Tabqa Air base.[142] Other known killing of military prisoners took place in Camp Speicher (1,0951,700 Iraqi Christians living in areas under ISIL control who want to
soldiers shot and thousands more missing)[150][151] remain in the caliphate face three options: converting
and the Shaer gas eld (200 Syrian soldiers shot).[152]
to Islam, paying a religious levy, jizya, or death. We
In November 2014, the UN Commission of Inquiry oer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract
this they will
on Syria said that ISIL was committing crimes against involving payment of jizya; if they refuse
[164]
have
nothing
but
the
sword,
ISIL
said.
ISIL had al[153][154]
humanity.
ready set similar rules for Christians in Ar-Raqqah, once
one of Syrias more liberal cities.[165][166]
2.1.2 Religious and minority group persecution
See also: Persecution of Assyrians by ISIL and
2.1.3 Treatment of civilians
Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL
ISIL compels people in the areas it controls, under the
penalty of death, torture or mutilation, to declare Islamic
creed, and live according to its interpretation of Sunni
Islam and sharia law.[139][140] It directs violence against
Shia Muslims, indigenous Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac
and Armenian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Shabaks and
Mandeans in particular.[155]
Amnesty International has found ISIL guilty of the ethnic
cleansing of ethnic and religious minority groups in
northern Iraq on a historic scale. In a special report
released on 2 September 2014, it describes how ISIL has
systematically targeted non-Arab and non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly
thousands, and forcing more than 830,000 others to ee

During the Iraqi conict in 2014, ISIL released dozens

of videos showing its ill treatment of civilians, many of
whom had apparently been targeted on the basis of their
religion or ethnicity. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned of war crimes being
committed in the Iraqi war zone, and disclosed one UN
report of ISIL militants murdering Iraqi Army soldiers
and 17 civilians in a single street in Mosul. The United
Nations reported that in the 17 days from 5 to 22 June,
ISIL killed more than 1,000 Iraqi civilians and injured
more than 1,000.[143][144][145] After ISIL released photographs of its ghters shooting scores of young men, the
United Nations declared that cold-blooded executions
by militants in northern Iraq almost certainly amounted
to war crimes.[167]

2.1

Human rights abuses

ISILs advance in Iraq in mid-2014 was accompanied by

continuing violence in Syria. On 29 May, ISIL raided a
village in Syria and at least 15 civilians were killed, including, according to Human Rights Watch, at least six
children.[168] A hospital in the area conrmed that it had
received 15 bodies on the same day.[169] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that on 1 June, a
102-year-old man was killed along with his whole family
in a village in Hama province.[170]

have had sex with these young girls, they just pass them
on to other ghters.[181] Speaking of Yazidi women captured by ISIL, Nazand Begikhani said, These women
have been treated like cattle... They have been subjected
to physical and sexual violence, including systematic rape
and sex slavery. They've been exposed in markets in Mosul and in Raqqa, Syria, carrying price tags.[182] Yazidi
girls in Iraq allegedly raped by ISIL ghters have committed suicide by jumping to their death from Mount Sinjar,
[183]
ISIL has recruited Iraqi children to its ranks, who can be as described in a witness statement.
seen with masks on their faces and guns in their hands A United Nations report issued on 2 October 2014, based
patrolling the streets of Mosul.[171]
on 500 interviews with witnesses, said that ISIL took
450500 women and girls to Iraqs Nineveh region in August where 150 unmarried girls and women, predomi2.1.4 Sexual violence and slavery allegations
nantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were
reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIL
Main article: Sexual Violence in the Iraqi Insurgency
ghters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves.[146] In
See also: Islamic views on slavery, Ma malakat ay- mid-October, the UN conrmed that 5,0007,000 Yazidi
manukum, Slavery in 21st century Islamism and women and children had been abducted by ISIL and sold
Wartime sexual violence
into slavery.[184][185] In November 2014 The New York
Times reported on the accounts given by ve who escaped
[186]
In its digital magAccording to one report, ISILs capture of Iraqi cities ISIL of their captivity and abuse.
azine
Dabiq,
ISIL
explicitly
claimed
religious
justicain June 2014 was accompanied by an upsurge in crimes
[187][188][189][190][191][192]
[172][173][174]
tion
for
enslaving
Yazidi
women.
against women, including kidnap and rape.
The Guardian reported that ISILs extremist agenda ex- According to The Wall Street Journal, ISIL appeals to
tended to womens bodies and that women living under apocalyptic beliefs and claims justication by a Hadith
revival of slavery as
their control were being captured and raped.[175] Fight- that they interpret as portraying the [193]
a
precursor
to
the
end
of
the
world.
ers are told that they are free to have sex and rape
non-Muslim captive women.[176] Hannaa Edwar, a leading womens rights advocate in Baghdad who runs an
NGO called Iraqi Al-Amal Association (IAA),[177] said
that none of her contacts in Mosul were able to conrm
any cases of rape.[178] However, another Baghdad-based
womens rights activist, Basma al-Khateeb, said that a culture of violence existed in Iraq against women generally
and felt sure that sexual violence against women was happening in Mosul involving not only ISIL but all armed
groups.[178]

2.1.5 Attacks on members of the press

The Committee to Protect Journalists says Without a
free press, few other human rights are attainable.[194]
ISIL has attacked local journalists creating what Reporters Without Borders calls news blackholes in areas controlled by ISIL. In December 2013 two suicide bombers stormed TV station Salaheddin headquarters killing ve journalists, after accusing the station of
distorting the image of Iraqs Sunni community. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and his family said that on
September 7, 2014 ISIL seized and on October 11 publicly beheaded Raad al-Azzawi (or Azzaoui), 37, a TV
Salaheddin cameraman from the village of Samra, east
of Tikrit.[195] Fighters have reportedly been given written
direction to kill or capture journalists.[196] According to
the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO), as of October 2014 ISIL was holding nine journalists and has nine
others under close observation in Mosul and Salahuddin
province.[196]

During a meeting with Nouri al-Maliki, British Foreign

Minister William Hague said with regard to ISIL: Anyone glorifying, supporting or joining it should understand that they would be assisting a group responsible
for kidnapping, torture, executions, rape and many other
hideous crimes.[179] According to Martin Williams in
The Citizen, some hard-line Salasts apparently regard
extramarital sex with multiple partners as a legitimate
form of holy war and it is dicult to reconcile this with
a religion where some adherents insist that women must
be covered from head to toe, with only a narrow slit for
the eyes.[180]
During 2013 and into 2014 an ISIL unit nicknamed the
Haleh Esfandiari from the Woodrow Wilson International Beatles acquired and held 12 western journalists hostage
Center for Scholars has highlighted the abuse of local along with aid workers and other foreign hostages for
women by ISIL militants after they have captured an area. a total of 23 or 24 known hostages. A Polish journalThey usually take the older women to a makeshift slave ist Marcin Suder was captured in July 2013 but escaped
market and try to sell them. The younger girls ... are four months later.[197] They executed American journalraped or married o to ghters, she said, adding, Its ists James Foley and Steven Sotlo and released bebased on temporary marriages, and once these ghters heading videos. Eight of the other journalists were re-

2 CRITICISM

leased for ransoms: Danish journalist Daniel Rye Ottosen, French journalists Didier Franois, Edouard Elias,
Nicolas Hnin, and Pierre Torres, and Spanish journalists
Marc Marginedas, Javier Espinosa, and Ricardo Garca
Vilanova. They continue to hold British journalist John
Cantlie and a female aid worker hostage.[198]

2.2

Islamic criticism

ISIL has been at the receiving end of severe criticism

from other Muslims, especially religious scholars and theologians.
In late August 2014, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia,
Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, condemned the
Islamic State and al-Qaeda saying, Extremist and militant ideas and terrorism which spread decay on Earth,
destroying human civilisation, are not in any way part of
Islam, but are enemy number one of Islam, and Muslims
are their rst victims.[199]
In late September 2014, 126 Sunni imams and Islamic
scholarsprimarily Su[200] from around the Muslim
world signed an open letter to the Islamic States leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, explicitly rejecting and refuting his groups interpretations of Islamic scriptures, the
Qur'an and hadith, used by it to justify its actions.[201][202]
"[You] have misinterpreted Islam into a religion of harshness, brutality, torture and murder ... this is a great
wrong and an oence to Islam, to Muslims and to the
entire world, the letter states.[203] It rebukes the Islamic
State for its killing of prisoners, describing the killings as
heinous war crimes" and its persecution of the Yazidis
of Iraq as abominable. Referring to the self-described
'Islamic State'", the letter censures the group for carrying out killings and acts of brutality under the guise of
jihadholy strugglesaying that its sacrice without
legitimate cause, goals and intention is not jihad at all,
but rather, warmongering and criminality.[203][204] It also
accuses the group of instigating tnaseditionby instituting slavery under its rule in contravention of the
anti-slavery consensus of the Islamic scholarly community.[203] Other scholars have described the group as not
Sunnis, but Khawarij.[205]

Kurdish demonstration against ISIL in Vienna, Austria, 10 October 2014

lim Faith, Dalil Boubakeur, and was joined by thousands

of other Muslims around the country under the slogan
Not in my name.[208][209] French president Franois
Hollande said Gourdels beheading was cowardly and
cruel, and conrmed that airstrikes would continue
against ISIL in Iraq. Hollande also called for three days of
national mourning, with ags own at half-mast throughout the country and said that security would be increased
throughout Paris.[208]

2.3 Criticism for use of the name Islamic

State
No nation recognises the group as a sovereign state. Many
object to using the name Islamic State owing to the
far-reaching political and religious authority which that
name implies. The United Nations Security Council, the
United States, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Russia, the
United Kingdom[210][211][212][213][214][215][216] and other
countries generally call the group ISIL, while much
of the Arab world and France use the Arabic acronym
"Dish".[217]

In late August 2014, a leading Islamic educational institution, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah in Egypt, advised Muslims to stop calling the group Islamic State and instead
refer to it as Al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria
because of the militant groups un-Islamic
The groups declaration of a caliphate has been criticized or QSIS,[218][219]
character.
and its legitimacy disputed by Middle Eastern governments, other jihadist groups,[206] and Sunni Muslim the- When addressing the United Nations Security Council in
ologians and historians. Qatar-based TV broadcaster and September 2014, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott
theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi stated: "[The] declaration summarized the widespread objections to the name Isissued by the Islamic State is void under sharia and has lamic State thus: To use this term [Islamic State] is
dangerous consequences for the Sunnis in Iraq and for the to dignify a death cult; a death cult that, in declaring itrevolt in Syria, adding that the title of caliph can only self a caliphate, has declared war on the world.[220] The
be given by the entire Muslim nation, not by a single group is very sensitive about its name. They will cut your
tongue out even if you call them Isisyou have to say 'Isgroup.[207]
[221]
Two days after the beheading of Herv Gourdel, hun- lamic State'", said a woman in ISIL-controlled Mosul.
dreds of Muslims gathered in the Grand Mosque of Paris In mid-October 2014, representatives of the Islamic Soto show solidarity against the beheading. The protest was ciety of Britain, the Association of British Muslims and
lead by the leader of the French Council of the Mus- the UKs Association of Muslim Lawyers proposed that

3.3

Other state opponents

"'Un-Islamic State' (UIS) could be an accurate and fair 3.3 Other state opponents
alternative name to describe this group and its agenda,
further stating, We need to work together and make sure
Iran[281][282]
that these fanatics don't get the propaganda that they feed
Russia[283][284] (arms supplier to Iraq)
o.[222][223]

2.4

Other international criticism

3.4 Transnational organizations

European Union Coordinating Member country

The group has attracted widespread criticism internation- response
ally for its extremism, from governments and internaArab League Coordinating Member country retional bodies such as the United Nations and Amnesty
sponse [285]
International.
On 24 September 2014, United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-Moon stated: As Muslim leaders
around the world have said, groups like ISIL or Daish 3.5 Other non-State opponents
-- have nothing to do with Islam, and they certainly do not
al-Qaeda[286]
represent a state. They should more ttingly be called the
[224]
Un-Islamic Non-State."

al-Nusra Front[287] (with localized truces and

The group was described as a cult in a Hungton Post
[225]
cooperation at times)
column by notable cult authority Steven Hassan.

The so called Islamic State is mocked on social meKurdistan Workers Party of Turkey - ground troops
dia websites such as Twitter and YouTube, with the
[288]
use of hashtags, mock recruiting ads, fake news articles in Iraqi Kurdistan
[226]
and YouTube videos.
One parody, by a Palestinian
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran- ground troops
TV satire show, portrays ISIL as buoon-like hypin Iraqi Kurdistan [288]
ocrites, and has had more than half a million views on
YouTube.[226][227]
Note: The opponents list is restricted to: (a) States and
non-State actors with military operations past, present or
2.5 Designation as a terrorist organization pending against ISIL in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and
Libya; (b) States directly supplying weapons to ground
Many world leaders and government spokespeople have forces ghting ISIL; (c) transnational organizations coorcalled ISIL a terrorist group, without a formal designation dinating or supporting such States.
by their countries. Media sources worldwide have also
called ISIL a terrorist organization.[139][241][242][243][244]

4 Group characteristics and structure

The United Nations Security Council in its Resolution

1267 (1999) designated al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization[245] and established the al-Qaida Sanctions List.
The European Union adopted the UN Sanctions List in
4.1
2001.[229]

Countries and groups at war with

ISIL

Ideology and beliefs

ISIL is a Sunni extremist group. It follows an extreme

interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence, and
regards those who do not agree with its interpretations as
indels or apostates.[289]

ISILs ideology originates in the branch of modern

pseudo-Islamic Wahabbi ideology that aims to return
3.1 Opposition within Iraq, Lebanon, to the early 13th-14th century CE, proposed by Ibn
Taymiyyah rejecting "innovations" in the religion which
Syria, Egypt and Libya
it believes corrupt its original spirit. It condemns later
caliphates and the Ottoman Empire for deviating from
3.2 Multinational coalition opposition
what it calls pure Islam and hence has been attempting to
establish its own caliphate.[290]
Inherent Resolve has been the U.S. designation
ISILs philosophy is well represented by the symbolism
applied to military operations since 15 October
in the Black Standard variant, the legendary battle ag of
2014

10

Muhammad that it has adopted. The ag shows the seal

of the Muhammad within a white circle, with the phrase
above it, "There is no God but Allah.[291] Such symbolism has been said to point to ISILs belief that it represents the restoration of the caliphate of early Islam, with
all of the political, religious and eschatological ramications that this would imply.[292]
According to some observers, ISIL emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, the rst post-Ottoman
Islamist group dating back to the late 1920s in Egypt.[293]
It adheres to global jihadist principles and follows the
hard-line ideology of al-Qaeda and many other modernday jihadist groups.[289][294] However, other sources trace
the groups roots not to the Islamism of the Muslim Brotherhood and the more mainstream jihadism of al-Qaeda,
but to Wahhabism. The New York Times wrote:
For their guiding principles, the leaders of
the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL,
are open and clear about their almost exclusive commitment to the Wahhabi movement of
Sunni Islam. The group circulates images of
Wahhabi religious textbooks from Saudi Arabia in the schools it controls. Videos from
the groups territory have shown Wahhabi texts
plastered on the sides of an ocial missionary
van.[295]

GROUP CHARACTERISTICS AND STRUCTURE

non-Muslim countries, is the purication of Islamic society. For example, when it comes to the IsraeliPalestinian
conict, since ISIL regards the Palestinian Sunni group
Hamas as apostates who have no legitimate authority to
lead jihad, it regards ghting Hamas as the rst step toward confrontation with Israel.[295][299][300]
Sunni critics, including Sala and jihadist muftis such as
Adnan al-Aroor and Abu Basir al-Tartusi, say that ISIL
and related terrorist groups are not Sunnis, but modernday KhawarijMuslims who have stepped outside the
mainstream of Islamserving an imperial anti-Islamic
agenda.[301][302][303][304] Other critics of ISILs brand of
Sunni Islam include Salasts who previously publicly supported jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda, for example the
Saudi government ocial Saleh Al-Fawzan, known for
his extremist views, who claims that ISIL is a creation
of Zionists, Crusaders and Safavids, and the JordanianPalestinian writer Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, the former spiritual mentor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was
released from prison in Jordan in June 2014 and accuses
ISIL of driving a wedge between Muslims.[304]

4.2 Goals and territorial claims

Main article: ISIL territorial claims

ISIL seeks to revive the original Wahhabi project of the

restoration of the caliphate governed by strict Salast
doctrine, and following Wahhabi tradition, it condemns
the followers of secular law as disbelievers, putting the
current Saudi regime in that category.[296]
ISILs use of violence to purify the community of unbelievers comes from the Wahhabi tradition. Bernard
Haykel has described Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's creed as
a kind of untamed Wahhabism, saying, For Al Qaeda,
violence is a means to an ends; for ISIS, it is an end
in itself.[295] The destruction by ISIL in July 2014 of
the tomb and shrine of the prophet YunusJonah in
Christianitythe 13th century mosque of Imam Yahya
Abu al-Qassimin, the 14th century shrine of prophet
JerjisSt George to Christiansand the attempted destruction of the Hadba minaret at the 12th century
Great Mosque of Al-Nuri have been described as an
unchecked outburst of extreme Wahhabism.[297]

Areas controlled (20 October 2014) Territories claimed (2014)

Rest of Iraq and Syria Note: map includes uninhabited areas.

Since 2004, the groups goal has been the foundation of

an Islamic state [305][306] and caliphate.[307] The leader and
According to The New York Times, All of the most in- so called "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi demands the alworldwide according to
uential jihadist theorists are criticizing the Islamic State legiance of all devout Muslims
[308]
Islamic
jurisprudenceqh.
as deviant, calling its self-proclaimed caliphate null and
void and have denounced it for its beheading of jour- ISIL stated: The legality of all emirates, groups, states
nalists and aid workers.[295] ISIL is widely denounced and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the
by a broad range of Islamic clerics including Al-Qaeda- khilafahs [caliphates] authority and arrival of its troops
oriented and Saudi clerics[295][298]
to their areas.[307] ISIL rejects the political divisions esduring World War I in the
Salasts such as ISIL believe that only a legitimate au- tablished by Western powers
[309][310][311]
SykesPicot
Agreement.
thority can undertake the leadership of jihad, and that the
rst priority over other areas of combat, such as ghting ISIL divides the territory which it controls or aspires to

4.3

Leadership and governance

11

control into provinceswilayah. After a series of expansions, as of November 2014 it claims provinces and
controls territory in Iraq, Syria, Sinai, and eastern Libya.
It also claims provinces and has members in Algeria,
Saudi Arabia and Yemen but does not control any territory in these areas.

vices. The Ar-Raqqah dam continues to provide electricity and water. Foreign expertise supplements Syrian
ocials in running civilian institutions. Only the police
and soldiers are ISIL ghters, who receive conscated
lodging previously owned by non-Sunnis and others who
ed. Welfare services are provided, price controls established, and taxes imposed on the wealthy. ISIL runs a
soft power program in the areas under its control in Iraq
4.3 Leadership and governance
and Syria, which includes social services, religious lectures and da'wahproselytizingto local populations.
Further information: List of Islamic State of Iraq and the It also performs public services such as repairing roads
Levant members
and maintaining the electricity supply.[315]
The group is headed and run by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,
British security expert Frank Gardner has concluded
that ISILs prospects of maintaining control and rule are
greater in 2014 than they were in 2006. Despite being
as brutal as before, ISIL has become well entrenched
among the population and is not likely to be dislodged
by ineective Syrian or Iraqi forces. It has replaced corrupt governance with functioning locally controlled authorities, services have been restored and there are adequate supplies of water and oil. With Western-backed
intervention being unlikely, the group will continue to
hold their ground and rule an area the size of Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future, he said.[316][317] Further solidifying ISIL rule is the control of wheat production, which is roughly 40% of Iraqs production. ISIL has
maintained food production, crucial to governance and
popular support.[318]

4.3.1 Diktats, inuences and pressures

Mugshot of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by US armed forces while in

detention at Camp Bucca in 2004

with a cabinet of advisers. There are two deputy leaders, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani for Iraq and Abu Ali alAnbari for Syria, and 12 local governors in Iraq and Syria.
Beneath the leaders are councils on nance, leadership,
military matters, legal mattersincluding decisions on
executionsforeign ghters assistance, security, intelligence and media. In addition, a Shura council has the
task of ensuring that all decisions made by the governors
and councils comply with the groups interpretation of
sharia.[312]
The Wall Street Journal estimated in September 2014 that
eight million Iraqis and Syrians live in areas controlled by
ISIL.[313] Ar-Raqqah in Syria is the de facto headquarters and is said to be a test case of ISIL governance.[314]
As of September 2014, governance in Ar-Raqqah has
been under the total control of ISIL where it has rebuilt the structure of modern government in less than a
year. Former government workers from the Assad regime
maintain their jobs after pledging allegiance to ISIL. Institutions, restored and restructured, are providing ser-

In Mosul, ISIL has implemented a sharia school curriculum which bans the teaching of art, music, national history, literature and Christianity. Although Charles Darwins theory of evolution has never been taught in Iraqi
schools, the subject has been banned from the school
curriculum. Patriotic songs have been declared blasphemous, and orders have been given to remove certain pictures from school textbooks.[319][320][321][322] Iraqi parents have largely boycotted schools in which the new curriculum has been introduced.[323]
After capturing cities in Iraq, ISIL issued guidelines on
how to wear clothes and veils. ISIL warned women in
the city of Mosul to wear full-face veils or face severe
punishment.[324] A cleric told Reuters in Mosul that ISIL
gunmen had ordered him to read out the warning in his
mosque when worshippers gathered. ISIL ordered the
faces of both male and female mannequins to be covered, in an order which also banned the use of naked
mannequins.[325] In Ar-Raqqah the group uses its two battalions of female ghters in the city to enforce compliance
by women with its strict laws on individual conduct.[326]
ISIL released 16 notes labeled Contract of the City, a
set of rules aimed at civilians in Nineveh. One rule stipulated that women should stay at home and not go outside
unless necessary. Another rule said that stealing would

12

be punished by amputation.[315][327] In addition to banning the sale and use of alcoholwhich is customary in
Muslim cultureISIL has banned the sale and use of
cigarettes and hookah pipes. It has also banned music
and songs in cars, at parties, in shops and in public, as
well as photographs of people in shop windows.[328]
According to The Economist, dissidents in the ISIL capital of Ar-Raqqah report that all 12 of the judges who
now run its court system ... are Saudis. Saudi practices
also followed by the group include the establishment of
religious police to root out vice and enforce attendance
at salat prayers, the widespread use of capital punishment, and the destruction of or conversion to other uses
of Christian churches and non-Sunni mosques.[329]

4.4

Propaganda and social media

GROUP CHARACTERISTICS AND STRUCTURE

about Armageddon.[338] In 2014 ISIL also launched the

Ajnad Media Foundation, which releases jihadist audio
chants.[339]
ISILs use of social media has been described by one
expert as probably more sophisticated than [that of]
most US companies.[330][340] It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute
its message by organizing hashtag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hashtags, and utilizing software applications that enable ISIL propaganda to be distributed to its supporters accounts.[341] Another comment is that ISIS puts more emphasis on social media
than other jihadi groups. ... They have a very coordinated social media presence.[342] In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIL. ISIL recreated and publicized new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter
administrators.[343] The group has attempted to branch
out into alternative social media sites, such as Quitter,
Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however,
almost immediately worked to remove ISILs presence
from their sites.[344]
In a switch from its former practices, ISILs media arm
imposed a social media blackout on 27 September 2014,
fearing that tweets and posts would give away military positions.[345] ISIL has also attempted to present
a more rational argument in its series of press release/discussions performed by hostage/captive John
Cantlie and posted on YouTube. In its most recent
Cantlie presentation, various current and former US ofcials were quoted, such as US President Barack Obama
and former CIA station chief Michael Scheuer.[346]
4.4.1 Beheadings
Main article: 2014 ISIL beheading incidents

The logo of al-Hayat Media Center

An unknown number of Syrians and Iraqis, several

Lebanese soldiers, at least ten Kurds, two American journalists, one American and two British aid workers, and
three Libyans have been beheaded by the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant. ISIL uses beheadings to intimidate
In November 2006, shortly after the groups rebrand- local populations and has released a series of propaganda
ing as the Islamic State of Iraq, the group established videos aimed at Western countries.
the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related
propaganda products.[333] ISILs main media outlet is 4.5 Finances
the I'tisaam Media Foundation,[334] which was formed in
March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic In 2014, the RAND Corporation carried out a study of
Media Front (GIMF).[335] In 2014, ISIL established the 200 documentspersonal letters, expense reports and
al-Hayat Media Center, which targets a Western audi- membership rostersthat had been captured from Alence and produces material in English, German, Rus- Qaeda in Iraq and the Islamic State of Iraq.[347] It found
sian and French.[336][337] From July 2014, al-Hayat be- that from 2005 until 2010, outside donations amounted
gan publishing a digital magazine called Dabiq, in a num- to only 5% of the groups operating budgets, with the rest
ber of dierent languages including English. Accord- being raised within Iraq.[347] In the time-period studied,
ing to the magazine, its name is taken from the town of cells were required to send up to 20% of the income genDabiq in northern Syria, which is mentioned in a hadith erated from kidnapping, extortion rackets and other acISIL is known for its extensive and eective use of
propaganda.[330][331] It uses a version of the Muslim Black
Standard ag and developed an emblem which has clear
symbolic meaning in the Muslim world.[332]

4.5

Finances

13

tivities to the next level of the groups leadership. Higher- money from truck drivers and threatening to blow up
ranking commanders would then redistribute the funds to businesses, for example. Robbing banks and gold shops
provincial or local cells that were in diculties or needed has been another source of income.[241]
money to conduct attacks.[347] The records show that the
Islamic State of Iraq was dependent on members from
Mosul for cash, which the leadership used to provide additional funds to struggling militants in Diyala, Salahuddin and Baghdad.[347]
In mid-2014, Iraqi intelligence obtained information
from an ISIL operative which revealed that the organization had assets worth US$2 billion,[348] making it the richest jihadist group in the world.[349] About three quarters
of this sum is said to be represented by assets seized after
the group captured Mosul in June 2014; this includes possibly up to US$429 million looted from Mosuls central
bank, along with additional millions and a large quantity
of gold bullion stolen from a number of other banks in Pictures show damage to the Gbiebe oil renery in Syria following
Mosul.[350][351] However, doubt was later cast on whether airstrikes by US and coalition forces.
ISIL was able to retrieve anywhere near that sum from the
central bank,[352] and even on whether the bank robberies
ISIL is widely reported as receiving funding from private
had actually occurred.[353]
donors in the Gulf states,[361][362] and the governments of
Exporting oil from oilelds captured by ISIL brings in Iraq and Iran have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia and
tens of millions of dollars.[316][354] One US Treasury of- Qatar of nancing and supporting the group. Ahead of
cial has estimated that ISIL earns US$1 million a day the conference of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition held in
from the export of oil. Much of the oil is sold illegally Paris in September 2014, Frances foreign minister acin Turkey.[355] Dubai-based energy analysts have put the knowledged that a number of countries at the table had
combined oil revenue from ISILs Iraqi-Syrian produc- very probably nanced ISILs advances.[363]
tion as high as US$3 million per day.[356] ISIL also exAlthough Iran and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
tracts wealth through taxation and extortion.[355]
have accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding the
Today the majority of the groups funding comes from the group,[364][365][366][367] there is reportedly no evidence
production and sale of energy. It controls around 300 oil that this is the case.[104][367][368][369] However, accordwells in Iraq alone. At its peak it operated 350 oil wells in ing to The Atlantic, ISIL may have been a major part of
Iraq, but lost 45 to foreign airstrikes. It has captured 60% Saudi Arabian Bandar bin Sultans covert-ops strategy in
of Syrias total production capacity. About one fth of its Syria.[370]
total capacity is in operation. It earns US$2.5 million a
Unregistered charity organizations are used as fronts to
day by selling 50,00060,000 barrels of oil daily.[355][357]
pass funds to ISIL. As they use aliases on Facebook's
Foreign sales rely on a long-standing black market to exWhatsApp and Kik, the individuals and organizations are
port via Turkey. Many of the smugglers and corrupt
untraceable. Donations transferred to fund ISILs opTurkish border guards who helped Saddam Hussain to
erations are disguised as humanitarian charity. Saudi
evade sanctions are helping ISIL to export oil and imArabia has imposed a blanket ban on unauthorized do[357][358][359]
port cash.
Energy sales include selling elecnations destined for Syria as the only means of stopping
tric power from captured power plants in northern Syria;
such funding.[357]
some of this electricity is reportedly sold back to the SyrSince 2012, ISIL has produced annual reports giving nuian government.[360]
merical information on its operations, somewhat in the
Sales of artifacts may be the second largest source of
style of corporate reports, seemingly in a bid to encourfunding for ISIL, according to an article in Newsweek.
age potential donors.[330][371]
More than a third of Iraqs important sites are under
ISILs control. It looted the 9th century BC grand palace On 11 November 2014, ISIL announced that they inof the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Kalhu. Tablets, tended to mint their own gold, silver and copper coins,
manuscripts and cuneiforms were sold, worth hundreds based on the coinage used by the Umayyad Caliphate
of millions of dollars. Stolen artifacts are smuggled into in the 7th Century. Following the announcement, the
Turkey and Jordan. Abdulamir al-Hamdani, an archae- group began buying up gold, silver and copper in marologist from SUNY Stony Brook, has said that ISIL is kets throughout northern and western Iraq, according
looting ... the very roots of humanity, artifacts from the to precious metal traders in the area. Members of the
group also reportedly began stripping the insulation o
oldest civilizations in the world.[357]
power electrical cables in order to obtain the copper
The group routinely practises extortion, by demanding
wiring.[372][373] The announcement included designs of

14

5 SUPPORTERS

the proposed coins, which displayed imagery including

a map of the world, a sword and shield, the Al-Aqsa
Mosque and a crescent moon. Economics experts, such as
Professor Steven H. Hanke of Johns Hopkins University,
were skeptical of the plans.[373][374] (See also Moderrn
gold dinar.)

4.6

Military and arms

4.6.3 Fighters in Libya

The Shura Council of Islamic Youth and other militants
in Libta were aborbed and designated the Barka Province
of ISIL[385][386] 800 ghters are reported to be operating
within Libya.
4.6.4 Fighters in Egypt

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis was dissolved with a large Sinaibased part of the group pledging allegiance to ISIL,
and assumed the designation Province of Sinai (Wilayat
Estimates of the size of ISILs military vary widely from Sinai) of ISIL [385][387] they are estimated to have 1,000
tens of thousands up to 200,000 ghters, with the lat- ghters.[389]
ter estimate being the most recent, as of November
2014.[375][376]
4.6.5 Conventional weapons
Main article: Military of ISIL

4.6.1

Foreign ghters in Iraq and Syria

ISIL relies mostly on captured weapons, with major

sources being Saddam Hussain's Iraqi stockpiles from
the 2003-11 Iraq insurgency[390] and weapons from government and opposition forces in the Syrian Civil War
and post-US withdrawal Iraqi insurgency. The captured
weapons, including armor, guns, surface-to-air missiles,
and even some aircraft, enabled rapid territorial growth
and facilitated the capture of additional equipment.[391]

There are thousands to tens of thousands of foreign ghters in ISILs ranks. Estimates include nearly 1,000 from
Chechnya, including senior commander Abu Omar alShishani, perhaps 500 or so more from France, Britain,
and elsewhere in Europe,[377][378] more than 2,000
Europeans and 100 Americans,[379] and around 1,000
Turks.[380] By October 2014, 2,4003,000 Tunisians[381]
and were ghting in Iraq and Syria.
4.6.6 Non-conventional weapons

ISIL captured nuclear materials from Mosul University

Groups outside Iraq and Syria dissolved into in July 2014 but is unlikely to be able to weaponize
ISIL
it.[392][393] They have used chemical weapons in Iraq and
Syria. ISIL has a long history of using truck and car
In mid-November 2014, groups of ghters in Sinai, bombs, suicide bombers, and IEDs.
Libya, Algeria, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia were absorbed
into ISIL as provinces.
4.6.2

5 Supporters

Ansar al-Islam (Iraq)[382][383] (dissolved and

pledging allegiance to ISIL)
5.1

Jund al-Khilafah (Algeria) - (dissolved with al- Memberships of these groups have either fully or in part
legiance to and designated a province of ISIL)[384]
declared support for ISIL.

Shura Council of Islamic Youth (Libya) (dissolved

and designated the Barka Province of ISIL)[385][386]

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (Egypt) (dissolved with

a large Sinai-based part of the group pledging
allegiance to ISIL, and assumed the designation
Province of Sinai (Wilayat Sinai) of ISIL) [385][387]

Unidentied militants in Saudi Arabia and Yemen designated as provinces of ISIL[384]

Groups with expressions of support

Jundallah (Pakistan) (pledged allegiance to

ISIL)[388]

Abu Sayyaf (Philippines, Malaysia)[394]

Iraqi Ba'ath Party (former ruling party of

Iraq)[395]

Boko Haram (Nigeria and surrounding

countries)[113]

Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters

(Philippines)[396]

Jemaah Islamiyah (Southeast Asia)[397]

Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (Indonesia)[398]

6.1

Conspiracy theories in the Arab world

15

Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)[399][400]

state, but either way the outcome will be disastrous for

Iraq. Lewis has called ISIL an advanced military lead Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)[401][402]
ership. She said, They have incredible command and
control and they have a sophisticated reporting mecha
Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of nism from the eld that can relay tactics and directives
Jerusalem (Gaza Strip)[403]
up and down the line. They are well-nanced, and they
have big sources of manpower, not just the foreign ght[404]

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

ers, but also prisoner escapees.[411]
The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium
(TRAC) in Florida had, by mid November 2014, identied 60 Jihadist groups in 30 countries that have pledged
allegiance or support to ISIL. We at TRAC are constantly adding to the list (nearly daily). Many groups
of these groups were previously aliated with al-Quada
indicating a shift in global jihadist leadership toward
ISIL.[405]

5.2

Turkey (allegations of support)

According to the Institute for the Study of War, ISILs

2013 annual report reveals a metrics-driven military
command, which is a strong indication of a unied,
coherent leadership structure that commands from the
top down.[412] Middle East Forum's Aymenn Jawad AlTamimi said, They are highly skilled in urban guerrilla
warfare while the new Iraqi Army simply lacks tactical
competence.[411] Seasoned observers point to systemic
corruption within the Iraq Army, seeing it as little more
than a system of patronage, and have attributed to this its
spectacular collapse as ISIL and its allies took over large
swaths of Iraq in June 2014.[413]

Main article: Turkish involvement in the 2014 military While ocials fear that ISIL may either inspire attacks in
intervention against ISIL
the United States by sympathizers or by those returning
after joining ISIL, US intelligence agencies nd there is
Turkey has been accused of supporting or colluding with no immediate threat or specic plots. US Defense SecISIL, especially by Syrian Kurds.[406][407] Turkey has also retary Chuck Hagel sees an imminent threat to every
been criticized for allowing individuals from outside the interest we have, but former top counterterrorism adregion to enter its territory and join ISIL in Syria.[408][409] viser Daniel Benjamin has derided such alarmist talk as
[414]
However, Turkey sent special forces to Iraq to train Kur- a farce that panics the public.
dish forces in late October or early November 2014.[271]

Analysis

Some news commentators, such as international newspaper columnist Gwynne Dyer,[415] and samples of public
opinion, such as surveys by NPR,[416] have advocated a
strong but measured response to ISILs recent provocative acts.

See also: History of Iraq and History of Syria

6.1 Conspiracy theories in the Arab world

Fanar Haddad, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute, has cited reasons for the Sunni-Shia conict as: an early neglect of
Shias; Arab-Iranian or Iraqi-Iranian rivalry; identity politics which were something that ethno-sectarian parties
had advocated from before 2003 and which were enshrined as the key marker of Iraqi politics by coalition
force intervention; the Sunni perspective that the Shia
parties and personalities that came to power had a Shiacentric and sect-centric view of things; prejudices; and
Sunni suspicions of the new Iraqi regime.[410]

Conspiracy theorists in the Arab world have advanced

rumors that the US is secretly behind the existence and
emboldening of ISIL, as part of an attempt to further
destabilize the Middle East. After such rumors became
widespread, the US embassy in Lebanon issued an ofcial statement denying the allegations, calling them a
complete fabrication.[417] Others are convinced that ISIL
leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is an Israeli Mossad agent
and actor called Simon Elliot. The rumors claim that
NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal this
connection. Snowdens lawyer has called the story a
By 2014, ISIL was increasingly being viewed as a militia
hoax.[418][419][420]
rather than as a terrorist group.[411] As major Iraqi cities
fell to ISIL in June 2014, Jessica Lewis, a former US army
intelligence ocer at the Institute for the Study of War,
described ISIL as not a terrorism problem anymore, but 7 See also
rather an army on the move in Iraq and Syria, and they
2014 American rescue mission in Syria
are taking terrain. They have shadow governments in and
around Baghdad, and they have an aspirational goal to
2014 Australian terror raids
govern. I don't know whether they want to control Bagh 2014 ISIL beheading incidents
dad, or if they want to destroy the functions of the Iraqi

16

2014 Iranian-led intervention in Iraq

2014 military intervention against the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant
American-led intervention in Syria
Siege of Koban
Inherent Resolve, U.S. designation for operations
since 15 October 2014
Iraqi insurgency (2011present)
List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
List of wars and battles involving the Islamic State
of Iraq and the Levant
Management of Savagery, a book aimed to provide
a strategy for al-Qaeda and other jihadists
Northern Iraq oensive (June 2014)
Northern Iraq oensive (August 2014)
Persecution of Assyrians by ISIL
Persecution of Yazidis by ISIL
Sinjar massacre

[4] According to classical Islamic sources, ilf alMuayyabn was an oath of allegiance taken in pre-Islamic
times by several clans of the Quraysh tribe, in which they
undertook to protect the oppressed and the wronged. The
name oath of the scented ones apparently derives from
the fact that the participants sealed the oath by dipping
their hands in perfume and then rubbing them over the
Kabah. This practice was later adopted by the Islamic
prophet Muhammad and incorporated into Islam.[57]
[5] During this ceremony, the participants declared: We
swear by Allah ... that we will strive to free the prisoners of their shackles, to end the oppression to which the
Sunnis are being subjected by the malicious Shi'ites and
by the occupying Crusaders, to assist the oppressed and
restore their rights even at the price of our own lives ... to
make Allahs word supreme in the world, and to restore
the glory of Islam...[57]

9 References
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Takri, a Muslim who accuses another Muslim of

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[4] Kelley, Michael B. (20 August 2014). One Big Question

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Spillover of the Syrian Civil War

United Kingdom and ISIL

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Notes

[1] The group is widely known as the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL), alternately called the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State of Iraq and
ash-Sham[20] (referring to Greater Syria; Arabic:
ad-Dawlah al-Islmyah fl-Irq
wa ash-Shm). The group is also known by the Arabic
acronym Daish (Arabic: Dish)
[2] See Anbar Awakening
[3] Accordingly, the Iraq and Shm in the name of the Islamic State is henceforth removed from all ocial deliberations and communications, and the ocial name is the
Islamic State from the date of this declaration.[48]

[7] Rubin, Alissa J. (5 July 2014). Militant Leader in Rare

Appearance in Iraq. The New York Times. Retrieved 6
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[9] Kadyrov Claims Red-Bearded Chechen Militant alShishani Dead. ElBalad. 14 November 2014.
[10] Kadyrov Says Islamic States Leader From Georgia
Killed. Radio Free Europe. 14 November 2014.
[11] Heres What We Know About the 'Caliph' of the New
Islamic State. Business Insider. Agence France-Presse.
29 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
[12] ISIS Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as
Islamic State. SITE Institute. 29 June 2014. Retrieved
29 June 2014.

17

[13] The War between ISIS and al-Qaeda for Supremacy of

the Global Jihadist Movement. Washington Institute for
Near East Policy. June 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.

[30] Whitlock, Craig (10 June 2006). Death Could Shake AlQaeda In Iraq and Around the World. The Washington
Post. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

[14] Pool, Jerey (16 December 2004). Zarqawis Pledge of

Allegiance to Al-Qaeda: From Mu'Asker Al-Battar, Issue
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[31] Knights, Michael (29 May 2014). The ISILs Stand in the
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[17] http://www.indexmundi.com/iraq/demographics_
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[32] Fishman 2008, pp. 489, noting that this was little more
than a media exercise and an attempt to give the group a
more Iraqi avour and perhaps to distance al-Qaeda from
some of al-Zarqawis tactical errors, notably the 2005
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[34] Fishman 2008, pp. 4950

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in captured territory. Euronews. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.

18

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11

External links

Iraq updates Institute for the Study of War

The New War in Iraq ISIL Overview Midwest
Diplomacy (September 2013)
This Is the Promise of Allah Declaration of the
Islamic State (29 June 2014)
Report on ISIS Governance in Syria Institute for
the Study of War
Islamic State Full-length documentary by VICE
News (August 2014)
The future of the radical groups
From Chechnya To Syria News & Analysis of
Russian-speaking Foreign Fighters In Syria

EXTERNAL LINKS

29

12
12.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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30

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TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

lamicrevialistmMujahid, WikiCorrectah, WarriorofShiism, KingofDiamonds88, Joneys Joes, 115ash, UseThisFoSchool, Layonpork, GHSROrg, Saiden7, Quentin3456, Rbz422, Ihateterrorists, Dannis243, Indonesia124, Specops3284, SaltySeas, Nons3r, 9kat, Aldrich killians,
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SVG created by MrPenguin20. Based on logo visible at Jihadology (by Aaron Y. Zelin) Original artist:
Military wing of the Badr Organisation.
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Albania.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Flag_of_Albania.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Algeria.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Flag_of_Algeria.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: SVG implementation of the 63-145 Algerian law "on Characteristics of the Algerian national emblem" ("Caractristiques du
Drapeau Algrien", in English). Original artist: This graphic was originaly drawn by User:SKopp.
File:Flag_of_Australia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Flag_of_Australia.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Bahrain.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Flag_of_Bahrain.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.moci.gov.bh/en/KingdomofBahrain/BahrainFlag/ Original artist: Source: Drawn by User:SKopp, rewritten by
User:Zscout370
File:Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Flag_of_Belgium_%28civil%29.svg
License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Flag_of_Bosnia_and_
Herzegovina.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Kseferovic
File:Flag_of_Bulgaria.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Flag_of_Bulgaria.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: The ag of Bulgaria. The colors are specied at http://www.government.bg/cgi-bin/e-cms/vis/vis.pl?s=001&p=0034&n=
000005&g= as: Original artist: SKopp
File:Flag_of_Canada.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Flag_of_Canada.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Croatia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Flag_of_Croatia.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?sec=4317 Original artist: Nightstallion, Elephantus, Neoneo13, Denelson83, Rainman,
R-41, Minestrone, Lupo, Zscout370,
<a
href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MaGa'
title='User:MaGa'>Ma</a><a
href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif'
class='image'><img
alt='Croatian
squares
Ljubicic.gif'
src='//upload.wikimedia.org/
wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif/15px-Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif'
width='15'
height='15'
srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif/23px-Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif
1.5x,
//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif/30px-Croatian_squares_Ljubicic.gif
2x' data-le-width='202' data-le-height='202' /></a><a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:MaGa' title='User
talk:MaGa'>Ga</a> (based on Decision of the Parliament)
File:Flag_of_Cyprus.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Flag_of_Cyprus.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Vzb83
File:Flag_of_Denmark.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Flag_of_Denmark.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:Madden
File:Flag_of_Egypt.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Flag_of_Egypt.svg License: CC0 Contributors:
From the Open Clip Art website. Original artist: Open Clip Art

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File:Flag_of_Estonia.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Flag_of_Estonia.svg License: Public domain

Contributors: http://www.riigikantselei.ee/?id=73847 Original artist: Originally drawn by User:SKopp. Blue colour changed by User:PeepP
to match the image at [1].
File:Flag_of_Europe.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Flag_of_Europe.svg License: Public domain
Contributors:
File based on the specication given at [1]. Original artist: User:Verdy p, User:-x-, User:Paddu, User:Nightstallion, User:Funakoshi,
User:Jeltz, User:Dbenbenn, User:Zscout370
File:Flag_of_Finland.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Flag_of_Finland.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1978/19780380 Original artist: Drawn by User:SKopp
File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Germany.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Flag_of_Germany.svg License: ? Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Greece.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Flag_of_Greece.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: own code Original artist: (of code) cs:User:-xfi- (talk)
File:Flag_of_Hungary.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Flag_of_Hungary.svg License: Public domain
Contributors:
Flags of the World Hungary Original artist: SKopp
File:Flag_of_Iran.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Flag_of_Iran.svg License: Public domain Contributors: URL http://www.isiri.org/portal/files/std/1.htm and an English translation / interpretation at URL http://flagspot.net/flags/ir'.html
Original artist: Various
File:Flag_of_Iraq.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Flag_of_Iraq.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
This image is based on the CIA Factbook, and the website of Oce of the President of Iraq, vectorized by User:Militaryace Original artist:
Unknown, published by Iraqi governemt, vectorized by User:Militaryace based on the work of User:Hoshie
File:Flag_of_Iraq_Turkmen_Front.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Flag_of_Iraq_Turkmen_Front.
svg License: Public domain Contributors: This vector image was created with Inkscape. Original artist: Oren neu dag
File:Flag_of_Israel.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Flag_of_Israel.svg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/The%20Flag%20and%20the%20Emblem Original artist:
File:Flag_of_Italy.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Flag_of_Italy.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Jihad.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Flag_of_Jihad.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Unknown Original artist: Unknown
File:Flag_of_Jordan.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Flag_of_Jordan.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Kurdistan.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Flag_of_Kurdistan.svg License: Public
domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: <a href='http://validator.w3.org/' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='W3C' src='//upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg/88px-Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg.png'
width='88' height='30' style='vertical-align: top' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Invalid_SVG_1.1_
%28pink%29.svg/132px-Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg.png 1.5x,
//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/
Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg/176px-Invalid_SVG_1.1_%28pink%29.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='91' data-le-height='31'
/></a>iThe source code of that SVG was invalid due to 12 errors.
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Kurdistan_Workers_Party_%28PKK%29.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Herrn
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Contributors:
Original artist: Traced based on the CIA World Factbook with some modication done to the colours based on information at Vexilla mundi.
File:Flag_of_Libya.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Flag_of_Libya.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: File:Flag of Libya (1951).svg Original artist: The source code of this SVG is <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text'
href='http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%3AFilepath%2FFlag_of_
Libya.svg,<span>,&,</span>,ss=1'>valid</a>.
File:Flag_of_Norway.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_Norway.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dbenbenn
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Contributors: The drawing and the colors were based from agspot.net. Original artist: User:Zscout370
File:Flag_of_Poland.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Flag_of_Poland.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Flag_of_Promised_Day_Brigades.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Flag_of_Promised_Day_
Brigades.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Flag of the Promised Day Brigades; a Shiite militia aligned with the Sadrist movement in Iraq. Visible here, here, and here. Original artist: Promised Day Brigades
File:Flag_of_Qatar.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Flag_of_Qatar.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Drawn by User:SKopp Original artist: (of code) cs:User:-xfi-

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artist: ?
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CC0 Contributors: the actual ag Original artist: Unknown
File:Flag_of_Singapore.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Flag_of_Singapore.svg License: Public domain Contributors: The drawing was based from http://app.www.sg/who/42/National-Flag.aspx. Colors from the book: (2001). The
National Symbols Kit. Singapore: Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. pp. 5. ISBN 8880968010 Pantone 032 shade from
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx?c_id=13050 Original artist: Various
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%281932-1958%3B_1961-1963%29.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: User:AnonMoos
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Flag_of_Syria.svg <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Flag_of_Syria.svg' class='image'><img alt='Flag of Syria.svg' src='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Flag_
of_Syria.svg/50px-Flag_of_Syria.svg.png' width='50' height='33' srcset='//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/
Flag_of_Syria.svg/75px-Flag_of_Syria.svg.png 1.5x,
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100px-Flag_of_Syria.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='900' data-le-height='600' /></a>
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of_Syria_%281932-1958%3B_1961-1963%29.svg.png
1.5x,
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Syria_%281932-1958%3B_1961-1963%29.svg/80px-Flag_of_Syria_%281932-1958%3B_1961-1963%29.svg.png
2x'
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-x-'s code
Zirlands codes of colors
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File:Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg

License: Public domain Contributors: Flag of the United Nations from the Open Clip Art website. Modications by Denelson83, Zscout370
and Madden. Ocial construction sheet here.
United Nations (1962) The United Nations ag code and regulations, as amended November 11, 1952, New York OCLC: 7548838. Original
artist: Wilfried Huss / Anonymous
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http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=5506, http://www.defense.gov/pubs/
140925SyrianOilRefineryStrikesRADM.pdf Original artist: DoD graphic
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BBCs recently updated map of ISIS controlled areas (This is the most recent source) Original artist: NordNordWest, Spesh531
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Simon.
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