Islamic State

A jihadist organization that declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2014, governed territory through violence, and later lost most of it.

Insurgency: An organized armed struggle by a nonstate group against an established authority. Islamic State combined insurgent warfare with attempts to hold and govern territory.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: A Jordanian militant who founded al-Qaeda in Iraq and was killed in 2006. His organization supplied an early institutional and ideological lineage.
Mosul offensive (2014): The June 2014 campaign in which Islamic State captured Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city. Mosul's fall enabled the group's rapid expansion and helped precede its caliphate declaration.
International military intervention against ISIL: The multinational military campaign launched in 2014 to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Its airstrikes and partner forces helped reverse the group's territorial gains.
Terrorism: The use or threat of violence against civilians to pursue political aims through fear. The group used attacks on civilians to intimidate opponents and publicize its cause.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq: A jihadist group founded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that fought U.S. forces and Iraqi authorities. It was the direct predecessor of Islamic State's Iraqi organizational line.
Sinjar massacre: The 2014 Islamic State attack on Yazidis in Iraq's Sinjar region, involving killings, abductions, and displacement. It exemplified the group's campaign of violence against religious minorities.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces: A multiethnic armed coalition in northeastern Syria, formed in 2015 and led by Kurdish forces. The coalition became the leading ground partner against Islamic State in Syria.
Oil smuggling: The illicit extraction, transport, or sale of petroleum outside legal controls. Oil sales from captured fields supplied a major source of revenue.
Islamic State of Iraq: An Iraqi jihadist organization formed in 2006 from al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied groups. It adopted the Islamic State name before expanding into Syria.

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