Executive Summary:

ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is an extremist group formed from al-Qaeda offshoots in Iraq and Syria. Since its formation in 2013, ISIS has worked to sustain a self-declared caliphate in eastern Syria and western Iraq. Ultimately, ISIS seeks to unite the world under a single caliphate, and to that end the group has begun to establish satellite operations in nine countries. Initially, ISIS gained support within Iraq as a Sunni insurgency group fighting what some Sunnis viewed as a partisan Shiite-led Iraqi government. The group has since garnered additional momentum as a result of the Syrian civil war, and has recruited up to 33,000 fighters from around the world. Thousands of foreign ISIS fighters are estimated to have been killed in battle, while some have returned—or are reportedly planning to return—to their home countries.Patricia Zengerle and Jonathan Landay, “CIA director says Islamic State still serious threat,” Reuters, June 16, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-fighters-idUSKCN0Z21ST;
“Islamic State Changing Terror Tactics to Maintain Threat in Europe,” EUROPOL, December 2, 2016, https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/islamic-state-changing-terror-tactics-to-maintain-threat-in-europe;
“Foreign Fighters: An Updated Assessment of the Flow of Foreign Fighters into Syria and Iraq,” Soufan Group, December 2015, 3, http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TSG_ForeignFightersUpdate3.pdf.

ISIS finds its origins in al-Qaeda forerunner al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), formed by sectarian extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. During the Iraq War and its aftermath, the group experienced a series of setbacks and restructurings, for a while going by the name the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). In June 2014, the group—then led by Iraqi extremist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—unilaterally declared a caliphate spanning eastern Syria and western Iraq, naming Baghdadi as its “caliph.” In his first speech as “caliph,” Baghdadi made clear that ISIS’s aspirations were not limited to any one region, saying that the group sought to establish governance over all Muslims. Consequently, the organization changed its name from the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (or the “Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham”) to simply the “Islamic State.”

Although ISIS controlled large swaths of territory across Iraq and Syria at the peak of its territorial control in the summer of 2014, the group lost the last of those territorial holdings over the course of 2017.Sarah Almukhtar et al., “ISIS Has Lost Many of the Key Places It Once Controlled,” New York Times, July 3, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/18/world/middleeast/isis-control-places-cities.html; Alex Lockie, “ISIS has been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria,” Business Insider, November 21, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-military-defeat-iraq-syria-2017-11. At its height, ISIS controlled almost 40 percent of Iraqi territory. By April 2017, U.S.-backed Iraqi forces had reduced ISIS’s control of the country to less than 7 percent.“ISIL now controls 'less than 7 percent of Iraq,’” Al Jazeera, April 12, 2017, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/isil-controls-percent-iraq-170411162419697.html. On July 10, 2017, the Iraqi government announced the liberation of Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul, where Baghdadi had declared ISIS’s caliphate three years earlier.“5 Things to Know About Mosul,” Associated Press, July 10, 2017, https://apnews.com/235d1fc9a02e4201a9532b0a11c924d7/5-Things-to-know-about-Iraq's-Mosul; Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, “Iraqi PM declares victory over Islamic State in Mosul,” Reuters, July 10, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19V105?il=0. Following the November 17 recapture of Rawa, the last ISIS-held town in Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared military victory over ISIS in the country.“Last Iraqi town held by ISIS recaptured, officials say,” CBS News, November 17, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/last-iraqi-town-held-by-isis-recaptured-officials-say/; Alex Lockie, “ISIS has been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria,” Business Insider, November 21, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-military-defeat-iraq-syria-2017-11. In June 2017, U.S-backed forces began an offensive to drive ISIS out of its declared capital in Raqqa, Syria.Jim Michaels, “Offensive to drive ISIS from Raqqa ‘capital’ in Syria begins,” USA Today, June 6, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/06/offensive-drive-isis-raqqa-capital-syria-begins/102542488/. On October 17, 2017, American-backed forces announced the liberation of Raqqa, and on November 21, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declared that ISIS had been driven out of Syria by Iranian-backed forces.Anne Barnard and Hwaida Saad, “Raqqa, ISIS ‘Capital,” Is Captured, U.S.-Backed Forces Say,” New York Times, October 17, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/world/middleeast/isis-syria-raqqa.html; Alex Lockie, “ISIS has been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria,” Business Insider, November 21, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-military-defeat-iraq-syria-2017-11. By December 2018, ISIS retained only a small foothold in the Syrian town of Baghuz along the Syrian-Iraqi border.Falih Hassan and Rod Nordland, “Battered ISIS Keeps Grip on Last Piece of Territory for Over a Year,” New York Times, December 9, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/world/middleeast/isis-territory-syria-iraq.html In March 2019, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an assault on ISIS forces in Baghuz and retook the town.Ellen Francis, “Islamic State counter-attacks out of final Syria enclave fall short -U.S.-backed SDF,” Reuters, March 13, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/islamic-state-counter-attacks-out-of-final-syria-enclave-fall-short-u-s-backed-sdf-idUSKBN1QU0Y1; “Islamic State launches counter attacks at Syria enclave,” Reuters, March 13, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state-counter/islamic-state-launches-counter-attacks-at-syria-enclave-idUSKBN1QU1Z5; Rodi Said, “Hundreds surrender as Islamic State nears defeat in last enclave,” Reuters, March 12, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/hundreds-surrender-as-islamic-state-nears-defeat-in-last-enclave-idUSKBN1QT0VB; Martin Chulov, “Isis releases video of fighters in Baghuz as Kurdish forces advance,” Guardian (London), March 12, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/12/isis-releases-video-fighters-baghuz-syria-kurdish-forces-advance; Ellen Francis, “Islamic State loses ground in final Syria enclave, hundreds surrender,” Reuters, March 14, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/u-s-backed-syria-forces-advancing-into-islamic-state-enclave-idUSKCN1QV0WB?il=0; Jeff Seldin, “Final Battle Against IS Caliphate as ‘Good as Over,’“ Voice of America, March 12, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/a/syria-sdf-islamic-state-baghuz/4825600.html.

Notwithstanding ISIS’s territorial losses, security officials expect ISIS to remain a threat and lead an ongoing insurgency in the region.Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, “Iraqi PM declares victory over Islamic State in Mosul,” Reuters, July 10, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19V105?il=0; Asa Fitch and Ali A. Nabhan, “Mosul Recaptured From Islamic State, Iraq’s Prime Minister Says,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/mosul-recaptured-from-islamic-state-iraqs-prime-minister-says-1499704119; Margaret Coker et al., “With Loss of Its Caliphate, ISIS May Return to Guerrilla Roots,” New York Times, October 18, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/world/middleeast/islamic-state-territory-attacks.html. In February 2021, Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the SDF, reported that ISIS is “trying to revive itself” and continues to threaten regional and global security.Mutlu Civiroglu and Sirwan Kajjo, “SDF Chief: Islamic State ‘Not Finished Yet,’” Voice of America, February 28, 2021, https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/sdf-chief-islamic-state-not-finished-yet. According to a February 2021 report by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, ISIS remained a “cohesive organization and continued to operate as a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria,” while its strategy, capabilities, and group cohesion “remained largely unchanged.”“Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve Quarterly Report to the United States Congress October 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020,” U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, posted February 8, 2021, https://media.defense.gov/2021/Feb/09/2002578750/-1/-1/1/LEAD%20INSPECTOR%20GENERAL%20FOR%20OPERATION%20INHERENT%20RESOLVE.PDF. The report also determined that while the international Coalition and its local partners have prevented ISIS from resurging, they have been unable to degrade ISIS to the point it no longer poses a threat.“Lead Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve Quarterly Report to the United States Congress October 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020,” U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, posted February 8, 2021, https://media.defense.gov/2021/Feb/09/2002578750/-1/-1/1/LEAD%20INSPECTOR%20GENERAL%20FOR%20OPERATION%20INHERENT%20RESOLVE.PDF. Observers in Europe allege ISIS remains a threat on the continent, though to a lesser extent than it did when it maintained its caliphate. ISIS no longer has the capabilities to launch large-scale attacks in Europe, but it continues to inspire individuals to carry out smaller attacks such as stabbings and vehicle attacks.Kersten Knipp, “‘Islamic State’: Weakened, but still dangerous,” Deutsche Welle, January 1, 2021, https://www.dw.com/en/islamic-state-weakened-but-still-dangerous/a-56089044.

Despite its territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, ISIS continues to maintain and expand its global presence. The group has declared wilayat (provinces, governorates) in Iraq, Syria, Egypt,Reuters, “Egypt’s Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis swears allegiance to ISIS: statement,” Al Arabiya November 4, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/04/Egypt-s-Ansar-Bayt-al-Maqdis-swears-allegiance-to-ISIS.html. Libya,Paul Cruickshank, Nic Robertson, Tim Lister and Jomana Karadsheh, “ISIS comes to Libya,” CNN, November 18, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/18/world/isis-libya/. Algeria,“Algeria’s al-Qaeda defectors join IS group,” Al Jazeera, September 14, 2014, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/algeria-al-qaeda-defectors-join-group-201491412191159416.html. Yemen,Aaron Y. Zelin “The Islamic State’s Model,” Washington Post, January 28, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/01/28/the-islamic-states-model/. Saudi Arabia,Kristin Roberts, “The Coming ISIS Assault on Saudi Arabia Means Awful Things for Washington,” National Journal, May 29, 2015, http://www.nationaljournal.com/defense/saudi-arabia-isis-threat-dammam-suicide-bombing-20150529; Aaron Y. Zelin “The Islamic State’s Model,” Washington Post, January 28, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/01/28/the-islamic-states-model/. Nigeria,Agence France-Presse, “IS welcomes Boko Haram allegiance: tape,” Yahoo News, March 12, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/accepts-allegiance-nigeria-jihadists-boko-haram-201513146.html. Afghanistan,Bill Roggio, “Pakistani Taliban emir for Bajaur joins Islamic State,” Long War Journal, February 2, 2015, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/02/pakistani_taliban_em.php. and the North Caucasus.Harleen Gambhir, “ISIS Declares Governorate in Russia’s North Caucasus Region,” Institute for the Study of War, June 23, 2015, http://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/isis-declares-governorate-russia%E2%80%99s-north-caucasus-region. Within the first seven months of 2019, ISIS announced new provinces in India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Central Africa as it sought to reassert itself after the loss of its territory in Iraq and Syria.Fayaz Bukhari and Alasdair Pal, “Islamic State claims ‘province’ in India for first time after clash in Kashmir,” Reuters, May 11, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-islamic-state/islamic-state-claims-province-in-india-for-first-time-after-clash-in-kashmir-idUSKCN1SH08J; Ayaz Gul, “Islamic State Announces ‘Pakistan Province,’” Voice of America, May 15, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/islamic-state-announces-pakistan-province; Rikar Hussein, Ezel Sahinkaya, Sirwan Kajjo, and Nafisa Hoodbhoy, “IS Decentralizing Into 'Provinces' in Bid to Return,” Voice of America, July 21, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/decentralizing-provinces-bid-return; Robert Postings, “Islamic State recognizes new Central Africa Province, deepening ties with DR Congo militants,” Defense Post, April 30, 2019, https://thedefensepost.com/2019/04/30/islamic-state-new-central-africa-province/. Citing ISIS’s violent activities in Africa, the United States in March 2021 designated ISIS’s provinces in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.“State Department Terrorist Designations of ISIS Affiliates and Leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique,” U.S. Department of State, March 10, 2021, https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-affiliates-and-leaders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-mozambique/. Beyond this, the terror group attracts considerable sympathy or has waged attacks in Turkey,Zia Weise, “Ankara bombing: Investigation into Turkey's deadliest terrorist attack to be 'completely focused' on Isis,” Independent (London), October 11, 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/ankara-bombing-investigation-into-turkeys-deadliest-terrorist-attack-to-be-completely-focused-on-a6690111.html. Morocco,Associated Press, “Morocco dismantles ISIS recruitment cell,” Al Arabiya, August 14, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/14/Morocco-dismantles-recruitment-cell-for-Iraq.html. Tunisia,Jamel Arfaoui, “Ansar al-Sharia Tunisia spokesman backs ISIS,” All Africa, July 8, 2014, http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2014/07/08/feature-01. the Philippines,Maria A. Ressa, “Senior Abu Sayyaf leader swears oath to ISIS,” Rappler, August 4, 2014, http://www.rappler.com/nation/65199-abu-sayyaf-leader-oath-isis. Lebanon,Associated Press, “Hezbollah repels ISIS attack on Lebanon-Syria border,” Fox News, June 9, 2015, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/06/09/lebanon-hezbollah-repels-attack-by-is-on-its-positions-on-lebanon-syria-border/. Bangladesh,Julfikar Ali Manik, Geeta Anand, and Ellen Barry, “Bangladesh Attack Is New Evidence That ISIS Has Shifted Its Focus Beyond the Mideast,” New York Times, July 2, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/asia/bangladesh-hostage-standoff.html. Indonesia,“Bekasi Group Swear Allegiance to ISIS,” Jakarta Post, August 5, 2014, http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/06/bekasi-group-swear-allegiance-isil.html. and the Palestinian territories.Diaa Hadid and Majd al Waheidi, “ISIS Allies Target Hamas and Energize Gaza Extremists,” New York Times, June 30, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/world/isis-allies-target-hamas-and-energize-gaza-extremists.html. ISIS sympathizers have also carried out lone-wolf attacks in a variety of Western countries such as FranceAlissa J. Rubin and Aurelien Breeden, “ISIS Claims Truck Attacker in France Was Its ‘Soldier,’” New York Times, July 16, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/world/europe/isis-nice-france-attack.html. and Belgium.Agence France-Presse, “Brussels airport delays reopening, as attacks toll lowered to 32,” Yahoo News, March 30, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/belgium-resumes-hunt-airport-suspect-criticism-mounts-004723635.html?ref=gs;
Patrick Sawer and David Chazan, “British victim of Brussels attacks confirmed dead as slow identification of bodies continues,” Telegraph (London), March 25, 2016, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/25/brussels-attacks-british-it-expert-david-dixon-confirmed-dead/;
Alissa J. Rubin, Aurelien Breeden, and Anita Raghavan, “Strikes Claimed by ISIS Shut Brussels and Shake European Security,” New York Times, March 22, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/world/europe/brussels-airport-explosions.html. In January 2020, ISIS announced a “new phase” that would shift its focus from the remains of its caliphate onto Israel.Agence France Presse and Times of Israel, “Islamic State announces ‘new phase’ of attacks: Mainly targeting Israel,” Times of Israel, January 27, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-announces-new-phase-of-attacks-mainly-targeting-israel/.

ISIS has historically funded itself through extortion, robbery, human trafficking, and the highly lucrative oil industry. However, ISIS lost approximately $500 million in income between 2014 and 2015 due to loss of territory and military setbacks amid sustained coalition airstrikes.Jose Pagliery, “ISIS is struggling to fund its war machine,” CNN Money, April 21, 2016, http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/21/news/isis-financing-oil-tax-war/;
“ISIS Financing,” Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, May 2016, 1, 20, http://cat-int.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ISIS-Financing-2015-Report.pdf. The group has also lured significant numbers of recruits through online propaganda, including videos and magazines produced in English, French, German, and a variety of other languages.Greg Miller and Souad Mekhennet, “Inside the surreal world of the Islamic State’s propaganda machine,” Washington Post, November 20, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/inside-the-islamic-states-propaganda-machine/2015/11/20/051e997a-8ce6-11e5-acff-673ae92ddd2b_story.html;
“New ISIS Media Company Addresses English, German And French-Speaking Westerners,” MEMRI, June 23, 2014, http://www.memrijttm.org/new-isis-media-company-targets-english-german-and-french-speaking-westerners.html. ISIS recruiters have also been successful on social media platforms and encrypted messaging services such as Telegram.James Billington, “Paris Terrorists Used WhatsApp and Telegram to Plot Attacks According to Investigators,” International Business Times, December 17, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/paris-terrorists-used-whatsapp-telegram-plot-attacks-according-investigators-1533880.

Under its self-proclaimed caliphate, ISIS imposed sharia (Islamic law) and was notorious for killing civilians en masse, often by public execution and crucifixion. Since losing its territory in Syria and Iraq, ISIS has shifted its strategy in those countries from holding territory to insurgency against the state. ISIS encourages followers to undertake lone-wolf attacks using inexpensive means such as vehicles, knives, and homemade explosives. Despite ISIS’s territorial losses, its propaganda continues to inspire lone-wolf attackers such as Khalid Masood, who killed seven people in a ramming-and-stabbing attack in London in March 2017. While ISIS’s dreams of a global caliphate are unlikely to ever be realized, the group will continue to cause significant damage wherever it is able to gain a foothold. After the fall of Baghuz, defense officials in the region reported that ISIS modified its strategy. Without centralized control, the insurgency has been carrying out small-scale attacks throughout rural territory along the porous border of Iraq and Syria and the informal border of Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq.Eric Schmitt, Alissa J. Rubin and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “ISIS Is Regaining Strength in Iraq and Syria,” New York Times, August 19, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/us/politics/isis-iraq-syria.html.

On October 26, 2019, U.S. forces carried out an operation in Syria’s Idlib province that resulted in the death of Baghdadi. U.S. officials confirmed Baghdadi’s identity using DNA tests of his remains after he detonated an explosive vest.Steve Holland and Phil Stewart, “Trump hails death of ‘depraved’ Islamic State leader Baghdadi in U.S. raid,” Reuters, October 27, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi/trump-hails-death-of-depraved-islamic-state-leader-baghdadi-in-u-s-raid-idUSKBN1X602N. On October 31, ISIS’s Amaq News Agency acknowledged Baghdadi’s death and announced Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi as his successor and ISIS’s new caliph.Hesham Abdulkhalek, Yousef Saba, and Ulf Laessing, “Islamic State confirms Baghdadi is dead, appoints successor,” Reuters, October 31, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-confirmation/islamic-state-confirms-baghdadi-is-dead-appoints-successor-idUSKBN1XA25A. On February 3, 2022, U.S. special forces launched a raid in Atmeh, northern Syria, targeting al-Mawla. At the beginning of the operation, al-Mawla detonated a bomb, killing himself and his family members.“U.S. says Islamic State leader killed in Syria raid,” Reuters, February 3, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-led-coalition-operation-northern-syria-targeted-jihadists-2022-02-03/. On March 10, 2022, ISIS released an audio recording confirming al-Mawla’s death and announcing the appointment of new ISIS leader, Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi. According to the recording, al-Mawla, as well as ISIS’s former spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurashi, were “killed in recent days.”“IS Names New Leader, Confirms Death Of Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi,” Agence France Presse, March 10, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/news/is-names-new-leader-confirms-death-of-abu-ibrahim-al-qurashi-01646930407?tesla=y.

Despite losing its self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria in 2019, ISIS remains active beyond the borders it once claimed. According to the U.S. Department of State, ISIS’s affiliates outside of Iraq and Syria caused more casualties in 2020 than in any previous year.Country Reports on Terrorism 2020, U.S. Department of State, December 2021, 2, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Country_Reports_on_Terrorism_2020.pdf. U.S. intelligence reports claimed ISIS still had up to 18,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria at the time of Baghdadi’s death.Bianca Britton, “Baghdadi's death: More details emerge from US raid,” CNN, last updated October 28, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/baghdadi-monday-dle-intl/index.html. ISIS has also led a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria, remaining a “determined and dangerous enemy,” according to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.“Islamic State’s spread beyond Syria, Iraq remains concern for US,” Al-Monitor, December 16, 2021, https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/12/islamic-states-spread-beyond-syria-iraq-remains-concern-us. American military officers believe that ISIS is a growing problem in Afghanistan and, if their operations are not curbed as soon as possible, that the militant group could expand their attacks against the West. Afghan generals have even mentioned the increasing difficulty in fighting off the rebels. On August 17, 2019, a suicide bomber infiltrated a wedding in western Kabul and killed at least 63 people while also injuring another 182. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The explosion came days before Afghanistan’s 100th Independence Day on August 19, 2019, and also coincided with on-going peace talks between the U.S. government and the Taliban.Rahim Faiez and Cara Anna, “Islamic State claims bombing at Kabul wedding that killed 63,” Associated Press, August 18, 2019, https://www.apnews.com/b5ceb0cfb33d4d73aaaadf5eee19fe9d. Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, ISIS has continued to target the country’s Shiite minority and strike at civilian and government targets alike. In response, the Taliban government has launched counterterrorism campaigns against ISIS.Susannah George, “Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State,” Washington Post, November 22, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/22/taliban-isis-afghanistan/; Agence France-Presse, “Taliban launch operation against IS in southern Afghanistan,” France 24, November 15, 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211115-taliban-launch-operation-against-is-in-southern-afghanistan.

Internally displaced people (IDP) camps have reportedly become ISIS’s new frontier for recruitment and radicalization. Tens of thousands of former ISIS fighters and their families live in IDP camps in the Levant, which has provided former militants the opportunity to regroup. At the Kurdish-run al-Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria, ISIS reportedly exerts more control than the guards stationed there and have enforced sharia law on all of the camp’s inhabitants. In some cases, women are reportedly enforcers for the camp’s “morality brigade,” or have even taken up arms in battle.Josh Rogin, “The Islamic State is building Caliphate 2.0 in a Syrian camp,” Washington Post, August 15, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-islamic-state-is-building-caliphate-20-in-a-syrian-camp/2019/08/15/5cf393a6-bf8e-11e9-b873-63ace636af08_story.html.; Vivian Yee, “Thousands of ISIS Children Suffer in Camps as Countries Grapple With Their Fate,” New York Times, May 8, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/world/middleeast/isis-prisoners-children-women.html. Women and children, who made up a majority of al-Hol’s 62,000 residents as of early 2021, are particularly vulnerable to deferring to the fundamental agenda that ISIS espouses. The United Nations has condemned the deteriorating security situation at al-Hol and other camps, where residents face starvation, violence, exploitation, and other forms of abuse. Nonetheless, foreign governments have been slow to repatriate their citizens residing in the camps.Lisa Schlein, “UN Security Concerns Rise Following Killings in Syria's Al-Hol Camp,” Voice of America, January 24, 2021, https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/un-security-concerns-rise-following-killings-syrias-al-hol-camp; Lisa Schlein, “UN Security Concerns Rise Following Killings in Syria's Al-Hol Camp,” Voice of America, January 24, 2021, https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/un-security-concerns-rise-following-killings-syrias-al-hol-camp; ‘Unknown number’ of foreign nationals have died in squalid Syrian camps, say rights experts,” United Nations, February 8, 2021, https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/02/1084172. In early March 2021, Belgium’s government announced it would begin to repatriate children of Belgian jihadists living in al-Hol, noting that the longer children remained in the camp, the greater the chance they would become “the terrorists of tomorrow.”“Belgium to repatriate children of jihadists held in Syria refugee camp,” EuroNews, March 5, 2021, https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/05/belgium-to-repatriate-children-held-in-al-hol-syrian-refugee-camp. That same month, Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria began putting captured ISIS fighters on trial while calling for the creation of an international tribunal in Syria to judge foreign fighters whose countries refuse to repatriate them.Mark Stone, “‘We have to judge them’: The court trying Islamic State fighters left behind in Syria,” Sky News, March 15, 2021, https://news.sky.com/story/we-have-to-judge-them-the-court-trying-islamic-state-fighters-left-behind-in-syria-12246852.

Doctrine:

ISIS’s overarching goals center on the reestablishment of a global, Islamic caliphate and fostering violent conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims.Andrew F. March and Mara Revkin, “Caliphate of Law: ISIS’ Ground Rules,” Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2015, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-04-15/caliphate-law; Ali Gharib, “Isis wants Christians and Muslims to fight a war. Will Republicans take the bait?,” Guardian (London), November 15, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/16/isis-christians-muslims-holy-war-republicans-2016.  In October 2015, ISIS’s then-spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani issued a statement urging Muslims around the world to engage in a “holy war” against Russia and the United States, which he claimed were leading a “crusaders’ war against Muslims.”“Islamic State urges jihad against Russians, Americans: audio,” Reuters, October 13, 2015, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamicstate/islamic-state-urges-jihad-against-russians-americans-audio-idUSKCN0S72DH20151013. Since the loss of Mosul in Iraq and its self-declared capital in Raqqa, Syria, in 2017, ISIS has transitioned from a territory-holding group to an insurgency in both those countries.Jason Burke, “Rise and fall of Isis: its dream of a caliphate is over, so what now?” Guardian (London), October 17, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/isis-caliphate-islamic-state-raqqa-iraq-islamist. Yet unlike al-Qaeda, which views a global caliphate as a long-term goal, establishing an Islamic caliphate remains ISIS’s core objective.Aaron Zelin, “Interpreting the Fall of Islamic State Governance,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, October 16, 2017, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/interpreting-the-fall-of-islamic-state-governance. Since its official founding in June 2014, this doctrinal commitment led ISIS to hold territory for more than three years across Iraq and Syria, and continue to hold territory in Afghanistan, Libya, and Nigeria.

In his June 2014 speech announcing the creation of the caliphate, ISIS’s late spokesman and director of external operations Abu Muhammad al-Adnani declared that “Without [the caliphate], authority becomes nothing more than kingship, dominance and rule, accompanied with destruction, corruption, oppression, subjugation, fear, and the decadence of the human being and his descent to the level of animals.”“ISIS Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as ‘Islamic State,’” SITE Intelligence, June 24, 2014, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/isis-spokesman-declares-caliphate-rebrands-group-as-islamic-state.html; “This is the promise of Allah,” Alhayat Media, June 29, 2014, https://ia902505.us.archive.org/28/items/poa_25984/EN.pdf. On the cover of the first issue of ISIS’s online English magazine Dabiq, the title “The Return of Khilafah” is superimposed over an image of the Arabian Peninsula, literally illustrating the group’s top priority.“The Return of the Khilafah,” Dabiq, July 2014, 4, https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/islamic-state-22dc481biq-magazine-122.pdf. Its slogan, baqiya wa tatamaddad (remaining and expanding), similarly underscores the point.Aaron Y. Zelin, “Colonial Caliphate: The Ambitions of the ‘Islamic State,’ Washington Institute of Near East Policy, July 8, 2014, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/colonial-caliphate-the-ambitions-of-the-islamic-state.

ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate cannot function without a caliph, the key figurehead. That role was initially reserved for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose so-called legitimacy was likewise established in ISIS’s doctrine.Andrew F. March and Mara Revkin, “Caliphate of Law: ISIS’ Ground Rules,” Foreign Affairs, April 15, 2015, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2015-04-15/caliphate-law. ISIS asserted that Baghdadi was a member of the Islamic prophet Muhammad’s Quraysh tribe, “one of the key qualifications in Islamic history for becoming the caliph.”Aaron Y. Zelin, “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State’s driving force,” BBC, July 31, 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28560449. In his “inaugural speech” launching the Islamic State on June 29, 2014, Baghdadi expanded further on the significance of the caliphate. Most important, he claimed, was that all Muslims submit and pledge allegiance (bay’a) to the caliphate.“ISIS Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as ‘Islamic State,’” SITE, June 29, 2014, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/isis-spokesman-declares-caliphate-rebrands-group-as-islamic-state.html. U.S. forces killed Baghdadi in a raid by U.S. forces in Syria on October 26, 2019.Steve Holland and Phil Stewart, “Trump hails death of ‘depraved’ Islamic State leader Baghdadi in U.S. raid,” Reuters, October 27, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi/trump-hails-death-of-depraved-islamic-state-leader-baghdadi-in-u-s-raid-idUSKBN1X602N. ISIS appointed Amir Muhammad Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, as Baghdadi’s successor.Hesham Abdulkhalek, Yousef Saba, and Ulf Laessing, “Islamic State confirms Baghdadi is dead, appoints successor,” Reuters, October 31, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-confirmation/islamic-state-confirms-baghdadi-is-dead-appoints-successor-idUSKBN1XA25A.

In January 2020, ISIS released an audio message featuring spokesman Abu Hamza al-Qurashi on behalf of al-Mawla. The spokesman called on followers around the world to launch a “new phase” focused on “fighting the Jews and reclaiming what they have stolen from the Muslims….” He called on ISIS fighters in Syria and Egypt’s Sinai to turn Jewish settlements into a “testing ground” for their weapons.Agence France Presse and Times of Israel, “Islamic State announces ‘new phase’ of attacks: Mainly targeting Israel,” Times of Israel, January 27, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-announces-new-phase-of-attacks-mainly-targeting-israel/.

Underpinning the allegiance to the caliphate, ISIS adheres to a literalist interpretation of Sunni Islam, specifically embracing beliefs according to an extremist Salafi vision.Hassan Hassan, “Isis: a portrait of the menace that is sweeping my homeland,” Guardian (London), August 16, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/16/isis-salafi-menace-jihadist-homeland-syria. Salafis believe that Islam has been tainted by centuries of human revision and interpretation. They call for a reversion to the practices and beliefs of the salaf, the first few generations of Muslims immediately following the Prophet. While Salafism under the Gulf monarchies tends to non-violent “quietism,” ISIS is explicitly willing to use violence in an attempt to return to the days of the salaf. This willingness is based on the conviction that violence is divinely ordained.Ed Husain, “Saudis Must Stop Exporting Extremism,” New York Times, August 22, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/isis-atrocities-started-with-saudi-support-for-salafi-hate.html.

ISIS supplements its Salafist worldview with a belief in the revival of takfirist practices. As a Salafi-Takfiri group, the “enemies of Islam” may be Muslim too. Thus, according to ISIS doctrine, almost 200 million Shiite Muslims—as well as Sufis, Yazidis, and Ba’hai—are all apostates and deserving of death.

ISIS also cleaves to a form of millenarianism with the ultimate hope of “bringing about the apocalypse,” according to journalist Graeme Wood.Graeme Wood, “What ISIS Really Wants,” Atlantic, March 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/. Indeed, ISIS frequently refers to the apocalypse in its various recruitment materials, including magazines, videos, and speeches.“ISIS leader surfaces in new audio recording,” CBS News, December 26, 2015, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-surfaces-in-new-audio-recording/;
“Break the Cross,” Dabiq, July 2016, 2, https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/the-islamic-state-e2809cdacc84biq-magazine-1522.pdf;
Graeme Wood, “What ISIS Really Wants,” Atlantic, March 2015, http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2015/02/what-isis-really-wants/384980/. According to ISIS’s aptly-named English-language magazine Dabiq, the apocalypse will be preceded by “One of the greatest battles between the Muslims and the crusaders” in the town of Dabiq, located northeast of Aleppo in the Syrian countryside.“The Return of the Khilafah,” Dabiq, July 2014, 4, https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/islamic-state-22dc481biq-magazine-122.pdf;
“Dabiq: Why is Syrian town so important for IS?,” BBC News, October 4, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30083303.

Organizational Structure:

ISIS is led by its emir (commander, chieftain, or prince), whom the group proclaimed caliph of ISIS’s self-declared Islamic State in June 2014.“ISIS Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as ‘Islamic State,’” SITE Institute, June 29, 2014, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/isis-spokesman-declares-caliphate-rebrands-group-as-islamic-state.html. Beneath the emir are two chief deputies, who oversaw ISIS territory in Syria and Iraq, respectively.Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, “The anatomy of ISIS: How the Islamic State is run, from oil to beheadings,” CNN, January 14, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/. These two deputies and a cabinet of advisers are reported to comprise ISIS’s executive branch, called “Al Imara” or “The Emirate.”Jared Day, “The inner workings of ISIS revealed,” Examiner, September 9, 2014, http://www.examiner.com/article/the-inner-workings-of-isis-revealed. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi served as ISIS’s caliph from 2014 until his death in a U.S. raid in Idlib, Syria, on October 26, 2019.Steve Holland and Phil Stewart, “Trump hails death of ‘depraved’ Islamic State leader Baghdadi in U.S. raid,” Reuters, October 27, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi/trump-hails-death-of-depraved-islamic-state-leader-baghdadi-in-u-s-raid-idUSKBN1X602N. Baghdadi’s likely successor, ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, was reportedly killed in a U.S. strike in Syria the day after Baghdadi’s death.Ben Hubbard and Karam Shoumali, “Likely Successor to Dead ISIS Leader Also Reported Killed,” New York Times, October 27, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/27/world/middleeast/al-baghdadi-successor-reported-killed.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency eulogized Baghdadi on October 31, and announced Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, a.k.a. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, as his successor. The appointment came after consultations of ISIS’s leadership council, according to Amaq. Amaq did not provide other details of Quraishi’s identity other than referring to him as “emir of the believers” and “caliph.”Hesham Abdulkhalek, Yousef Saba, and Ulf Laessing, “Islamic State confirms Baghdadi is dead, appoints successor,” Reuters, October 31, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-confirmation/islamic-state-confirms-baghdadi-is-dead-appoints-successor-idUSKBN1XA25A; Raja Abdulrahim and Nazih Osseiran, “Islamic State Names New Leader to Succeed Baghdadi,” Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-names-new-leader-to-succeed-baghdadi-11572537863; Rick Gladstone, “Isis Names New Leader as It Confirms Al-Bagdadi’s death,” New York Times, October 31, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/middleeast/isis-al-baghdadi-dead.html. Al-Mawla killed himself during a raid launched by U.S. Special Forces in Syria on February 3, 2022.“U.S. says Islamic State leader killed in Syria raid,” Reuters, February 3, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-led-coalition-operation-northern-syria-targeted-jihadists-2022-02-03/. On March 10, ISIS announced the appointment of Abu Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi as the group’s new leader.“IS Names New Leader, Confirms Death Of Abu Ibrahim Al-Qurashi,” Agence France Presse, March 10, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/news/is-names-new-leader-confirms-death-of-abu-ibrahim-al-qurashi-01646930407?tesla=y. Shortly after, on November 30, ISIS released a statement claiming al-Qurashi was killed in action. The statement also declared Abu al-Hussain al-Hussaini al-Qurashi as the new leader of the terrorist group.Rachel Hagan, “ISIS leader 'killed in action' as murderous group names its new caliph,” Mirror, November 30, 2022, https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-isis-leader-killed-action-28621464. Abu al-Hussain had a short-lived career as ISIS’s head. According to Ankara, Abu al-Hussain was killed by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on April 29, 2023, in Syria’s Afrin province. Abu al-Hussain reportedly detonated a suicide vest to evade detainment.“Turkey Offers Details Of Islamic State Chief's Death,”Agence France Presse, May 1, 2023, https://www.barrons.com/news/turkey-offers-details-of-islamic-state-chief-s-death-cf5480ac; “ISIS chief killed in Syria by Turkey's intelligence agency, Erdogan says,” CBS News, April 30, 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-leader-abu-hussein-al-qurashi-killed-erdogan-syria-turkey-intelligence-agency/. However, on August 3, 2023, ISIS released an audio statement in which the group’s spokesman confirmed Abu al-Hussain was killed in clashes with a rival group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Details regarding the location and timeline of his death remain unclear, although HTS controls part of northwest Syria. The group also announced the appointment of Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi as the group’s new leader.Jared Malsin, “Islamic State Confirms Top Leader Is Dead,” Wall Street Journal, August 3. 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-confirms-top-leader-is-dead-dfc114a3; Ayaz Gul, “UN Awaits Confirmation of Killing of IS-Khorasan Chief in Afghanistan,” Voice of America, July 28, 2023.

Directly under the caliph, but not part of the executive branch, are ISIS’s legislative councils, the Shura Council and Shariah Council. The nine-member Shura Council is reportedly responsible for ensuring that lower councils adhere to ISIS’s religious doctrine,Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, “The anatomy of ISIS: How the ‘Islamic State’ is run, from oil to beheadings,” CNN, January 14, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/. and is also responsible for relaying the caliph’s orders through the rest of the organization.Richard Barrett, “The Islamic State,” Soufan Group, November 2014, 6, http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf. According to terrorism analyst Jasmine Opperman, the council approves lower council decisions that impact the caliphate. It also has the authority to force the caliph to step down if he deviates from ISIS doctrine.Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, “The anatomy of ISIS: How the ‘Islamic State’ is run, from oil to beheadings,” CNN, January 14, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/.

ISIS’s six-member Shariah Council is the group’s “most powerful” body, according to Richard Bennett of the Soufan Group. It was responsible for enforcing its interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) within ISIS’s territory, as well as selecting the caliph.Richard Bennet, “The Islamic State,” Soufan Group, November 2014, 30, http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf;
Adam Taylor, “Charting the murky leadership structure of the Islamic State,” Washington Post, October 30, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/10/30/charting-the-murky-leadership-structure-of-the-islamic-state/. When ISIS conquered new territory, the group’s Shariah Council was responsible for creating a sharia police force and courts to enforce its interpretation of Islamic law.Richard Barrett, “The Islamic State,” Soufan Group, November 2014, 30, http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf.

According to a January 2015 report by CNN, Baghdadi’s two deputies each oversaw 12 governors in their respective territories in Iraq and Syria. The deputies also oversaw ministry-like councils that were responsible for day-to-day functions:Nick Thompson and Atika Shubert, “The anatomy of ISIS: How the ‘Islamic State’ is run, from oil to beheadings,” CNN, January 14, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/; Jason Bellini and Reem Makhoul, “The Islamic State: How Its leadership Is Organized,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2014, http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/09/09/the-islamic-state-how-its-leadership-is-organized-the-short-answer/.

• Financial Council: ISIS’s treasury, which oversees oil and weapons sales and other revenue.
• Leadership Council: responsible for the organization’s laws and policies. The council’s decisions are approved by Baghdadi. The council also has the authority to depose al-Baghdadi if he strays from ISIS’s ideology.
• Military Council: responsible for the organization’s military operations.
• Legal Council: responsible for decisions on executions and recruitment. It also handles family disputes and religious transgressions.
• Fighters Assistance Council: responsible for providing aid and housing to foreign fighters who come to ISIS’s territory, including moving them into and out of the territory.
• Security Council: responsible for police and security oversight of ISIS’s territory. It also carries out executions.
• Intelligence Council: ISIS’s intelligence-gathering wing.
• Media Council: manages ISIS’s media strategy, including social media.

In addition to governing bodies, ISIS operates a secret service wing, previously run by the late Abu Muhammad al-Adnani. This wing, referred to as the Emni, reportedly serves as both an internal police and external operations unit, whose members seek to export terror abroad. According to an August 2016 report by the New York Times, multiple lieutenants are responsible for planning attacks in three distinct target regions: Europe, Asia, and the Arab world.Rukmini Callimachi, “How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers,” New York Times, August 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/middleeast/isis-german-recruit-interview.html?_r=0. The unit is reportedly responsible for deploying operatives back into Europe, for the purpose of connecting with local ISIS sympathizers and plotting domestic attacks.Rukmini Callimachi, “How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers,” New York Times, August 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/middleeast/isis-german-recruit-interview.html?_r=0.

At its height in 2014, ISIS controlled approximately 40 percent of Iraq, dwindling down to 6.8 percent by April 2017.“Islamic State has lost most territory it held in Iraq: Iraqi spokesman,” Reuters, April 11, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN17D1FP. In June 2017, ISIS blew up the historic Great Mosque of al-Nuri, where Baghdadi had declared his caliphate in 2014. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called ISIS’s destruction of the over-800-year-old mosque “an official announcement of their defeat.”Hamdi Alkhshali, Barbara Starr, and Phil Gast, “US, Iraq say ISIS blew up famous Mosul mosque,” CNN, June 22, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/21/world/mosul-iraq-mosque-destroyed/index.html. Also in June 2017, U.S-backed forces began an offensive to drive ISIS out of its declared capital in Raqqa, Syria.Jim Michaels, “Offensive to drive ISIS from Raqqa ‘capital’ in Syria begins,” USA Today, June 6, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/06/06/offensive-drive-isis-raqqa-capital-syria-begins/102542488/. U.S.-backed forces in Iraq and Syria liberated Mosul and Raqqa on July 10 and October 17, 2017, respectively. On November 17, Abadi declared a military victory over ISIS in Iraq following the recapture of Rawa, the last ISIS-held town in the country.Alex Lockie, “ISIS has been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria,” Business Insider, November 21, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-military-defeat-iraq-syria-2017-11. In Iraq, the United Nations estimated that ISIS used 100,000 people as human shields, and more than 1,000 Syrians were killed in American-led airstrikes during the liberation of Raqqa.“5 Things to Know About Mosul,” Associated Press, July 10, 2017, https://apnews.com/235d1fc9a02e4201a9532b0a11c924d7/5-Things-to-know-about-Iraq's-Mosul; Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, “Iraqi PM declares victory over Islamic State in Mosul,” Reuters, July 10, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19V105?il=0; Anne Barnard and Hwaida Saad, “Raqqa, ISIS ‘Capital,” Is Captured, U.S.-Backed Forces Say,” New York Times, October 17, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/world/middleeast/isis-syria-raqqa.html. Despite these territorial losses, Iraqi security officials expected ISIS to revert to guerrilla warfare and continue carrying out sporadic attacks in the region as part of an insurgency.Isabel Coles and Stephen Kalin, “Iraqi PM declares victory over Islamic State in Mosul,” Reuters, July 10, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-mosul-idUSKBN19V105?il=0; Asa Fitch and Ali A. Nabhan, “Mosul Recaptured From Islamic State, Iraq’s Prime Minister Says,” Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/mosul-recaptured-from-islamic-state-iraqs-prime-minister-says-1499704119; Margaret Coker et al., “With Loss of Its Caliphate, ISIS May Return to Guerrilla Roots,” New York Times, October 18, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/world/middleeast/islamic-state-territory-attacks.html.

ISIS continued to capture and hold new territory in Syria through early 2018 as it engaged rebel and regime forces. On November 21, 2017, ISIS launched a new offensive targeting the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in north Hama, Syria.Weekly Conflict Summary November 16-22, 2017, Carter Center, November 22, 2017, https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/syria-conflict/weekly-conflict-summary-2017.11.22.pdf. HTS accused the Syrian regime of aiding ISIS fighters against the rebel group in northern Hama in October 2017, a claim that the Carter Center finds “likely” to be true since the ISIS fighters that attacked HTS first traveled through regime-held territory in large numbers.Weekly Conflict Summary October 5-11, 2017, Carter Center, October 11, 2017, https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/syria-conflict/weekly-conflict-summary-2017.10.05-11.pdf. According to the Carter Center, Russian and regime planes have regularly bombed HTS along its frontline with ISIS while not attacking ISIS fighters in the area.Conflict Summary December 21, 2017-January 10, 2018, Carter Center, January 10, 2018, https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/syria-conflict/weekly-conflict-summary-2017.12.21-2018.01.10.pdf. Nonetheless, ISIS has continued its offensive against the Syrian regime, expanding into Idlib in November,Weekly Conflict Summary November 16-22, 2017, Carter Center, November 22, 2017, https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/syria-conflict/weekly-conflict-summary-2017.11.22.pdf. and capturing regime-held villages along the Euphrates river in early December.Weekly Conflict Summary December 7-13, 2017, Carter Center, December 13, 2017, https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/peace/conflict_resolution/syria-conflict/weeklyconflictsummary-2017.12.07-13.pdf.

In May 2018, the U.S.-led coalition began Operation Roundup to eliminate ISIS’s remaining presence. By December 2018, ISIS retained only a small foothold in the Syrian town of Baghuz along the Syrian-Iraqi border.Falih Hassan and Rod Nordland, “Battered ISIS Keeps Grip on Last Piece of Territory for Over a Year,” New York Times, December 9, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/world/middleeast/isis-territory-syria-iraq.html. In March 2019, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an assault on ISIS forces in Baghuz. Hundreds of ISIS fighters and their families reportedly surrendered to the SDF, which declared days later that the battle to retake Baghuz was as “good as over.”Ellen Francis, “Islamic State counter-attacks out of final Syria enclave fall short -U.S.-backed SDF,” Reuters, March 13, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/islamic-state-counter-attacks-out-of-final-syria-enclave-fall-short-u-s-backed-sdf-idUSKBN1QU0Y1; “Islamic State launches counter attacks at Syria enclave,” Reuters, March 13, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state-counter/islamic-state-launches-counter-attacks-at-syria-enclave-idUSKBN1QU1Z5; Rodi Said, “Hundreds surrender as Islamic State nears defeat in last enclave,” Reuters, March 12, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/hundreds-surrender-as-islamic-state-nears-defeat-in-last-enclave-idUSKBN1QT0VB; Martin Chulov, “Isis releases video of fighters in Baghuz as Kurdish forces advance,” Guardian (London), March 12, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/12/isis-releases-video-fighters-baghuz-syria-kurdish-forces-advance; Ellen Francis, “Islamic State loses ground in final Syria enclave, hundreds surrender,” Reuters, March 14, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-islamic-state/u-s-backed-syria-forces-advancing-into-islamic-state-enclave-idUSKCN1QV0WB?il=0; Jeff Seldin, “Final Battle Against IS Caliphate as ‘Good as Over,’“ Voice of America, March 12, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/a/syria-sdf-islamic-state-baghuz/4825600.html.

ISIS’s October 31, 2019, announcement of Quraishi as its new “caliph” signified that though the group had lost its territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria, it still remained committed to the concept of an expansive caliphate.Raja Abdulrahim and Nazih Osseiran, “Islamic State Names New Leader to Succeed Baghdadi,” Wall Street Journal, October 31, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-names-new-leader-to-succeed-baghdadi-11572537863; Rick Gladstone, “Isis Names New Leader as It Confirms Al-Bagdadi’s death,” New York Times, October 31, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/middleeast/isis-al-baghdadi-dead.html. According to the United Nations, as of 2023, 1.2 million Iraqis remained displaced by ISIS’s insurgency, and more than 6.8 million Syrians remain internally displaced due to the conflict. “Syria: UNHCR Operational Update, June 2023 [EN/AR]” United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), July 24, 2023, https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syria-unhcr-operational-update-june-2023-enar; “Community reintegration: The key to returning one million internally displaced Iraqis,” United Nations Development Programme, April 6, 2023, https://www.undp.org/iraq/stories/community-reintegration-key-returning-one-million-internally-displaced-iraqis.

Wilayat

Before its military defeats in Syria and Iraq in November 2017, ISIS controlled wilayat (provinces) in both countries including in Raqqa, Idlib, and Hama in Syria, and Ninawa, Kirkuk, and Anbar in Iraq.Bill Roggio, “ISIS’ ‘Southern Division’ Praises Foreign Suicide Bombers,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, April 9, 2014, http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/bill-roggio-isis-southern-division-praises-foreign-suicide-bombers/. The terror group also controls provinces across the Middle East and Africa. These provinces begin as local jihadist groups, which then pledge allegiance to ISIS’s caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Since ISIS lost its last territorial hold in Iraq and Syria, ISIS has shifted its focus to its provinces in what could be an attempt to decentralize the group while reaffirming its global presence. In May 2019, ISIS announced the creation of new provinces in India and Pakistan.Ayaz Gul, “Islamic State Announces ‘Pakistan Province,’” Voice of America, May 15, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/islamic-state-announces-pakistan-province. That July, ISIS announced the creation of a province in Turkey.Rikar Hussein, Ezel Sahinkaya, Sirwan Kajjo, and Nafisa Hoodbhoy, “IS Decentralizing Into 'Provinces' in Bid to Return,” Voice of America, July 21, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/decentralizing-provinces-bid-return. ISIS’s affiliates in Egypt and West Africa renewed their allegiances to Baghdadi in June 2019.Thomas Joscelyn, “Islamic State’s Sinai province renews allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” Long War Journal, June 19, 2019, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/06/islamic-states-sinai-province-renews-allegiance-to-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi.php. ISIS fighters in Mali and Burkina Faso also renewed their allegiance to Baghdadi that month.Thomas Joscelyn, “Jihadists in West Africa renew allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” Long War Journal, June 17, 2019, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/06/jihadists-in-west-africa-renew-allegiance-to-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi.php.

Before accepting a pledge of allegiance and forming a new wilaya, ISIS must receive a proposal detailing the group’s military and governance strategy, as well as identifying a collectively chosen leader. Issue 7 of ISIS’s Dabiq magazine described the process in detail:

“This [approval] process includes documenting their bay’āt [pledge of allegiance], unifying the jamā’āt [assembly] who have given bay’ah, holding consultations to nominate a wālī [governor] and members for the regional shūrā assembly, planning a strategy to achieve consolidation in their region for the Khilāfah [caliphate] so as to implement the Sharī’ah [Islamic law], and presenting all this to the Islamic State leadership for approval.”“From Hypocrisy to Apostacy: The Extinction of the Grayzone,” DABIQ, accessed November 12, 2015, 35, http://media.clarionproject.org/files/islamic-state/islamic-state-dabiq-magazine-issue-7-from-hypocrisy-to-apostasy.pdf.

Below is a list of official wilayat outside of Syria and Iraq:

Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia: Wilayat Khorasan

Jihadists in Afghanistan and Pakistan pledged allegiance to ISIS in November 2014. ISIS accepted the pledge in January 2015, officially forming Wilayat Khorasan, and appointed former Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Said Khan as leader.“Islamic State moves in on al-Qaeda turf,” BBC News, June 25, 2015, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-31064300. The province also included parts of India, Iran, and other parts of Central Asia.Rezaul H Laskar, “IS announces expansion into AfPak, parts of India,” Hindustan Times, January 29, 2015, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/is-announces-expansion-into-afpak-parts-of-india/story-6oLyWpPxodwnb0jt1rhCbP.html. A September 2015 U.N. report alleged 70 ISIS militants traveled from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan to form the core of the new wilaya.Agence France-Presse, “Islamic State gaining ground in Afghanistan: UN,” Yahoo News, September 25, 2015, https://news.yahoo.com/islamic-state-gaining-ground-afghanistan-un-235952988.html. Other members include former Taliban insurgents and dozens of foreign fighters.Surkh Dewal, “Exclusive: In turf war with Afghan Taliban, Islamic State loyalists gain ground,” Reuters, June 29, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/29/us-afghanistan-islamic-state-idUSKCN0P91EN20150629#O2dDId6xEYbsFZM0.97. In August 2015, the Afghanistan-based jihadist group Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) pledged allegiance to ISIS and was subsumed into Wilayat Khorasan.Merhat Sharipzhan, “IMU Declares It Is Now Part Of The Islamic State,” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, August 6, 2015, http://www.rferl.org/content/imu-islamic-state/27174567.html.

Wilayat Khorasan claimed its first attack on Afghan forces in September 2015 when it killed three policemen at a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan.Rahim Faiez and Lynne O’Donnel, “IS loyalists kill 3 police in first attack on Afghan forces,” Associated Press, September 27, 2015, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4407127095a4444ab25ac5d71dc86b9d/afghan-official-islamic-state-fighters-kill-3-police. The group has since continued to carry out deadly attacks and maintain a small stronghold in the region.Sune Engel Rasmussen, “Isis in Afghanistan: ‘Their peak is over, but they are not finished,’” Guardian (London), November 18, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/18/isis-in-afghanistan-their-peak-is-over-but-they-are-not-finished. On March 8, 2017, the group launched a suicide bomb and gun attack at a hospital in Kabul, killing 30 people.Mirwais Harooni, “Over 30 killed as gunmen dressed as medics attack Afghan military hospital,” Reuters, March 8, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast-idUSKBN16F0GP. As for intended targets, ISIS declared war on Afghanistan’s Shiite, mostly Hazara, population and has regularly claimed responsibility for attacks against the ethnic and religious minority.Syed Zafar Mehdi, “Why ISIS Have Declared War On The Hazara Shias Of Afghanistan,” Huffington Post, June 26, 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.in/syed-zafar-mehdi/why-isis-have-declared-war-on-the-hazara-shias-of-afghanistan_a_22504421/.

There were approximately 1,300 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan as of September 2016, according to General John Nicholson, the highest-ranking U.S. military commander in the country. Nicholson said on September 23, 2016, that ISIS leaders in Syria provide the Afghanistan fighters with money, guidance, and communications support. According to Nicholson, ISIS’s fighters are largely former members of the Pakistan Taliban and primarily based in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar region.“U.S. General Says Taliban Controls 10 Percent Of Afghanistan,” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, September 23, 2016, https://www.rferl.org/a/28009576.html.

ISIS restructured the Khorasan Province in May 2019 when it announced the creation of separate Pakistani and Indian provinces.Ayaz Gul, “Islamic State Announces ‘Pakistan Province,’” Voice of America, May 15, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/islamic-state-announces-pakistan-province. ISIS Khorasan continued to operate, claiming responsibility that month for several attacks in Afghanistan.Robert Postings, “ISIS announces new India and Pakistan provinces, casually breaking up Khorasan,” Defense Post, May 15, 2019, https://thedefensepost.com/2019/05/15/islamic-state-pakistan-province-al-hind/. The U.N. Security Council designated the Khorasan Province in May 2019.“The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - Khorasan (ISIL - K),” United Nations, May 14, 2019, https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/islamic-state-iraq-and-levant-khorasan-isil-k.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan government on August 15, 2021, and ahead of the impending full withdrawal of U.S. military forces by August 31, on August 22, 2021, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced that ISIS posed a significant threat to Americans in Afghanistan. According to reports from U.S. intelligence and military officials, ISIS would seek to exploit Afghanistan’s security vacuum and plot attacks against American targets as the Biden administration attempted to evacuate American citizens and U.S. personnel from Afghanistan.Andrew Restuccia, “U.S. Warns of Islamic State Threat to Americans in Afghanistan,” Washington Post, August 22, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-warns-of-islamic-state-threat-to-americans-in-afghanistan-11629648314.

On August 26, a suicide attack was carried out at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The attack began when a suicide bomber—who possessed 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings—detonated himself outside of the airport, near Abbey Gate. According to media reports, as many as 170 people and 13 U.S. service members were killed, with an additional 200 wounded. The Taliban condemned the attack, later launching an investigation into the perpetrators. That evening, ISIS-K issued an official statement on Telegram claiming responsibility for the attack.Jamie Johnson and Catherine Neilan, “Afghanistan explosion: At least 13 feared dead in double bomb attack at Kabul airport,” Telegraph, August 26, 2021, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/26/afghanistan-threat-attack-kabul-airport-severe-imminent-warns/; Yuliya Talmazan, Mushtaq Yusufzai, Courtney Kube and Andrea Mitchell, “Multiple U.S. service members killed in explosions outside Kabul airport amid evacuations,” NBC News, August 26, 2021, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/high-threat-terror-attack-disrupts-kabul-airport-evacuations-biden-deadline-n1277670; Yaroslav Trofimov, Sune Engel Rassmussen, and Vivian Salama, “Kabul Airport Explosions Kill Four U.S. Marines, at Least 60 Afghans,” Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistan-kabul-airport-explosion-11629976397; “Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly Kabul airport attack,” Reuters, August 26, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/islamic-state-claims-responsibility-kabul-airport-attack-2021-08-26/; Claire Parker, “World leaders, Taliban condemn attack near Kabul airport,” Washington Post, August 26, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/26/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates/; “Afghanistan Live Updates: Flights Resume at Kabul Airport After Deadly Attack,” New York Times, August 27, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/27/world/afghanistan-taliban-biden-news; “Pentagon: Deadly Afghan Airport Attack Was Not Preventable,” U.S. News, February 4, 2022, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-04/pentagon-deadly-afghan-airport-attack-was-not-preventable.

The next day, Marine General Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command told reporters that U.S. troops in Kabul are preparing for more ISIS-K attacks. U.S. forces are allegedly sharing information with Taliban fighters stationed outside of Kabul’s airport in anticipation of future ISIS attacks that could include car bombs or rocket fire. That same day, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced that the Taliban had released “thousands” of ISIS-K militants from U.S. prisons in Afghanistan following their takeover of the country. Kirby did not reveal how many prisoners remain at Bagram Air Base.Eric Garcia, “Pentagon admits ‘thousands’ of Isis-K militants released from US prisons by Taliban,” Independent, August 27, 2021; Jake Epstein and John Haltiwanger, “The Pentagon says thousands of ISIS-K prisoners went free after the Taliban seized Afghanistan,” Business Insider, August 27, 2021, https://news.yahoo.com/pentagon-says-thousands-isis-k-152248921.html; Rachel Pannett, Ellen Francis and Erin Cunningham, “U.S. forces preparing for more ISIS attacks in Kabul, top commander says,” Washington Post, August 27, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/27/afghanistan-kabul-taliban-live-updates/.

On the evening of August 27, 2021, the U.S. military carried out a drone strike in Nangarhar, targeting and killing two “high profile” ISIS-K targets. According to Kirby, the targets were “ISIS-K planners and facilitators.” Another ISIS-K member was wounded in the attack.Barbara Starr and Paul LeBlanc, “Two 'high profile' ISIS targets in Afghanistan killed in US drone strike, Pentagon says,” CNN, August 28, 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/28/politics/isis-k-drone-strike-us-afghanistan/index.html.

As of November 2021, ISIS reportedly had between 2,000 and 3,500 fighters in Afghanistan.Susannah George, “Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State,” Washington Post, November 22, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/22/taliban-isis-afghanistan/. On November 17, 2021, U.N. Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the U.N. Security Council ISIS-K had to date carried out 334 attacks in Afghanistan that year while establishing a presence in every Afghan province. According to Lyons, the Taliban have been unable to stop ISIS-K’s growth.Jonathan Landay, “U.N. envoy says Islamic State now appears present in all Afghan provinces,” Reuters, November 17, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/un-envoy-says-islamic-state-now-appears-present-all-afghan-provinces-2021-11-17/.

Since seizing power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have increased offensive military strikes against ISIS-K targets around Afghanistan.Agence France-Presse, “Taliban launch operation against IS in southern Afghanistan,” France 24, November 15, 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211115-taliban-launch-operation-against-is-in-southern-afghanistan. In November 2021, the Taliban began conducting background checks to purge ISIS infiltrators from the Afghan military.Eltaf Najafizada, “Taliban Look to Purge Military of Islamic State Infiltrators,” Bloomberg, November 8, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-09/taliban-look-to-purge-military-of-islamic-state-infiltrators. On November 15, 2021, the Taliban announced the launch of Operation IS, a crackdown on suspected ISIS hideouts in Afghanistan.Agence France-Presse and staff “Taliban Launch Operation Against IS in Southern Afghanistan,” Defense Post, November 15, 2021, https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/11/15/taliban-operation-southern-afghanistan/. That month, the Taliban deployed more than 1,300 fighters to Nangahar province to disrupt ISIS-K operations.Susannah George, “Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State,” Washington Post, November 22, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/22/taliban-isis-afghanistan/.

On February 4, 2022, U.S. military officials briefed reporters on the results of an investigation into the ISIS-K bombing at Abbey Gate. The investigation, led by Brigadier General Lance Curtis, interviewed more than 130 people and spanned five countries over three and a half months. The investigation found that none of the casualties were injured or killed by gunfire, contradicting previous claims that casualties were a result of both a suicide bomber and ISIS-K gunmen. According to media sources, the report also determined that a single suicide bomber carried out the attack alone.Eric Schmitt and Helene Cooper, “Lone ISIS Bomber Carried Out Attack at Kabul Airport, Pentagon Says,” New York Times, February 4, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/politics/kabul-airport-attack-report.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=US%20Politics; “Military Officials brief Media on investigation results of ISIS-K bombing at Abbey Gate,” U.S. Central Command, February 4, 2022, https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/2923951/military-officials-brief-media-on-investigation-results-of-isis-k-bombing-at-ab/; “Defense Department Briefing on ISIS-K Bombing Investigation,” C-SPAN, February 4, 2022, https://www.c-span.org/video/?517751-1/pentagon-investigation-finds-kabul-airport-attack-carried-lone-suicide-bomber; “Pentagon: Deadly Afghan Airport Attack Was Not Preventable,” U.S. News, February 4, 2022, https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-04/pentagon-deadly-afghan-airport-attack-was-not-preventable.

Algeria: Wilayat al-Jazair

In 2014, ISIS accepted the pledge of allegiance from Algeria-based terrorist group Jund al-Khilafah, and announced that the establishment of an Algerian governorate, Wilayat al-Jazair.Nathaniel Barr, “f at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Deception: The Islamic State’s Expansion Efforts in Algeria,” Terrorism Monitor 13, no. 22, http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=44595&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=0c1f99764a132dde0b33631ba9b49095#.VmhXN7grLIU; Aaron Y. Zelin, “The Islamic State’s model,” Washington Post, January 28, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/01/28/the-islamic-states-model/. By December 2014, however, Wilayat al-Jazair leader Abd al-Malik Guri (a.k.a. Khalid Abu Sulayman) was killed by the Algerian military.

Wilayat al-Jazair is credited with the September 24, 2014, beheading of French tourist Hervé Gourdel but has been minimally active there in the months since. On October 21, 2015, Wilayat al-Jazair released an audio statement attempting to reassure its supporters that ISIS’s presence in Algeria was secure. During the same statement, however, an ISIS militant urged fighters not to risk their lives unnecessarily, appearing to indicate the underlying vulnerability of ISIS’s Algerian governorate.Nathaniel Barr, “f at First You Don’t Succeed, Try Deception: The Islamic State’s Expansion Efforts in Algeria,” Terrorism Monitor 13, no. 22, http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=44595&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=0c1f99764a132dde0b33631ba9b49095#.VmhXN7grLIU.

Central Africa: Wilayat Central Africa

Baghdadi first mentions a Central Africa province in an August 2018 speech. On April 18, 2019, ISIS claimed responsibility through its Amaq News Agency for a shooting attack in Kamango, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), that killed three. ISIS credited the attack to its affiliate, Wilayat Central Africa, or Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). It was the group’s first attack claimed in the Congo and the first attack credited to the Central Africa province. ISIS also credited an April 25 attack in the DRC to the group. That attack killed three soldiers. Later in the month, ISIS released a video featuring Baghdadi, who called on ISIS’s supporters to seek revenge for the loss of the group’s caliphate. Baghdadi was seen in the video handling documents, including one called Wilayat Central Africa.“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: IS leader appears in first video in five years,” BBC News, April 30, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48098528; Jon Gambrell and Krishan Francis, “Islamic State leader: Sri Lanka attack was revenge for Syria,” Associated Press, April 29, 2019, https://www.apnews.com/54b095fc0e894790845f8b96292e0ab6; Robert Postings, “Islamic State recognizes new Central Africa Province, deepening ties with DR Congo militants,” Defense Post, April 30, 2019, https://thedefensepost.com/2019/04/30/islamic-state-new-central-africa-province/; “Islamic State claims its first Congo attack,” Reuters, April 18, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-security/islamic-state-claims-its-first-congo-attack-idUSKCN1RU2KD. Although ISIS-affiliated media portrayed ISCAP as a wilayat encompassing units across central, east, and southern Africa, ISCAP has become synonymous with Islamic State in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ISIS-DRC).“State Department Terrorist Designations of ISIS Affiliates and Leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique,” U.S. Department of State, March 10, 2021, https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-affiliates-and-leaders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-mozambique/; “ISIS-Democratic Republic of Congo (ISIS-DRC), National Counterterrorism Center, https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/isis_drc_fto.html.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: ISIS-DRC

Locally known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), ISIS-DRC is led by Seka Musa Baluku. ISIS-DRC has carried out attacks across North Kivu and Ituri provinces in eastern DRC targeting Congolese citizens and regional military forces. In 2020 alone, ISIS-DRC reportedly killed more than 849 civilians. ISIS-DRC is also known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and Madina at Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen. The U.S. Department of the Treasury first sanctioned ADF and six of its members including Baluku in 2014 for their roles in significant human rights abuses. ISIS-DRC was also designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on March 10, 2021. “State Department Terrorist Designations of ISIS Affiliates and Leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique,” U.S. Department of State, March 10, 2021, https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-affiliates-and-leaders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-mozambique/.

Mozambique: ISIS-Mozambique

Led by Abu Yasir Hassan, ISIS-Mozambique pledged allegiance to ISIS in approximately April 2018. Also known as Ansar al-Sunna, the group has killed more than 1,300 civilians since October 2017. ISIS-Mozambique’s attacks have caused the displacement of nearly 670,000 people within northern Mozambique. The United States designated ISIS-Mozambique as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on March 10, 2021.“State Department Terrorist Designations of ISIS Affiliates and Leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique,” U.S. Department of State, March 10, 2021, https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-affiliates-and-leaders-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-and-mozambique/. That same month, U.S. forces began training Mozambican troops to fight against an ISIS-driven insurgency that had already killed at least 2,000 people and displaced 670,000.Declan Walsh and Eric Schmitt, “American Soldiers Help Mozambique Battle an Expanding ISIS Affiliate,” New York Times, March 15, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/world/africa/mozambique-american-troops-isis-insurgency.html.

Egypt: Wilayat Sinai

In November 2014, Egypt’s Ansar Beit al-Maqdis—a jihadist group based in the Sinai Peninsula—pledged allegiance to ISIS and became Wilayat Sinai, ISIS’s Sinai province. The group grew amid the chaos of Egypt’s 2011 revolution, and is known for killing hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police officers.David D. Kirkpatrick, “Militant Group in Egypt Vows Loyalty to ISIS,” New York Times, November 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/world/middleeast/egyptian-militant-group-pledges-loyalty-to-isis.html?_r=2.

Since its pledge of allegiance, Wilayat Sinai has accrued an estimated “several hundreds, if not over a thousand” fighters in the Sinai region, according to CIA Director John Brennan.Patricia Zengerle and Jonathan Landay, “CIA director says Islamic State still serious threat,” Reuters, June 16, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-fighters-idUSKCN0Z21ST. The group has claimed responsibility for an attack on an Egyptian vesselDavid D. Kirkpatrick, “Militant Group in Egypt Vows Loyalty to ISIS,” New York Times, November 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/world/middleeast/egyptian-militant-group-pledges-loyalty-to-isis.html. and the downing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai that killed all 224 people on board.Barbara Starr and Catherine E. Schoichet, “Russian plane crash: U.S. intel suggests ISIS bomb brought down jet,” CNN, November 4, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/04/africa/russian-plane-crash-egypt-sinai/;
“Russian plane crash: investigation into cause begins – as it happened,” Guardian (London), last modified November 2, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/oct/31/russian-passenger-plane-crashes-in-egypts-sinai-live. On February 9, 2017, Wilayat Sinai claimed responsibility for a number of rocket attacks targeting an Israeli resort in Eilat, an attack that caused no damage or casualties.“Islamic State-linked group claims rocket attack on Israeli resort,” Reuters, February 9, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-idUSKBN15O0GF.Following the attack, Wilayat Sinai took to Telegram to claim responsibility and warn that “what is coming is graver and more bitter.”“Islamic State-linked group claims rocket attack on Israeli resort,” Reuters, February 9, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-idUSKBN15O0GF.

Beginning in December 2016, Wilayat Sinai launched a campaign against Egypt’s Coptic Christian community. On December 11, 2016, ISIS claimed a suicide bombing at a chapel adjacent to St. Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo, killing at least 28 people during Sunday Mass.Sudarsan Raghavan and Heba Mahfouz, “With bombing victims still dying, it’s a somber Christmas for Egypt’s Christians,” Washington Post, January 7, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/with-bombing-victims-still-dying-its-a-somber-christmas-for-egypts-christians/2017/01/07/95d27a9c-d162-11e6-9651-54a0154cf5b3_story.html?utm_term=.0bb2f12000df. On April 9, 2017, ISIS claimed a bombing of St. George’s Church in Tanta and a suicide bombing at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria that altogether killed at least 45 people.Maggie Michael, “Attacks test Egypt’s president who orders state of emergency,” Associated Press, April 10, 2017, https://apnews.com/4b96a168a56441e2b66c41b797ef849e/egypts-christians-bury-dead-after-church-bombings. On May 26, ISIS launched its first attack against a monastery when gunmen attacked two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians to the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 29 people.Bijan Hosseini, Angela Dewan, and Jason Hanna, “Egypt shooting: ISIS claims massacre of 29,” CNN, May 27, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/27/middleeast/egypt-shooting-coptic-christians-isis-claim/. In February 2017, Wilayat Sinai released a propaganda video declaring Christians to be their “favorite prey.”“ISIS Egypt affiliate: Christians are our ‘favorite prey,” Fox News, February 20, 2017, http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/20/isis-egypt-affiliate-christians-are-our-favorite-prey.html.

On November 24, 2017, militants carrying the ISIS flag carried out a bomb and gun attack on the al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 305 people and wounding at least 128 others in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.Hamdi Alkhshali et al., “Egypt mosque attack death toll climbs to above 300,” CNN, November 25, 2017, http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/25/africa/egypt-sinai-mosque-massacre/index.html; Charlene Gubash et al., “Egypt mosque attack: Death toll rises, officials say militants brandished ISIS flag,” NBC News, November 25, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/egypt-reels-death-toll-rises-mosque-attack-which-militants-brandished-n823871. Although Egyptian authorities suspect ISIS’s Wilayat Sinai is responsible, the group has not claimed responsibility.Omar Fahmy and Patrick Markey, “Gunmen in Egypt mosque attack carried Islamic State flag, prosecutor says,” Reuters, November 24, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-security/gunmen-in-egypt-mosque-attack-carried-islamic-state-flag-prosecutor-says-idUSKBN1DO1AN.

Israeli intelligence has accused Wilayat Sinai of cooperating with Hamas in the neighboring Gaza Strip. Hamas has reportedly used its underground tunnel system beneath the Gaza-Egypt border to transport aid to Wilayat Sinai, while also providing military training and medical aid to ISIS militants in the Sinai.Avi Issacharoff, “Under Egypt’s nose, Hamas boosts cooperation with IS in Sinai,” Times of Israel, March 6, 2016, http://www.timesofisrael.com/under-egypts-nose-hamas-boosts-cooperation-with-is-in-sinai/; Avi Issacharoff, “Inside Hamas, a bitter and very personal battle for control,” Times of Israel, March 19, 2016, http://www.timesofisrael.com/inside-hamas-a-bitter-and-very-personal-battle-for-control/; Avi Issacharoff, “Rising new Hamas leader is all too familiar to Israel,” Times of Israel, December 18, 2015, http://www.timesofisrael.com/rising-new-hamas-leader-is-all-too-familiar-to-israel/. Nonetheless, on January 4, 2018, Wilayat Sinai released an execution video of an alleged Hamas member and called on supporters to attack Hamas in Gaza because the group failed to stop U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.Vasudevan Sridharan, “Islamic State issues threats against Hamas with brutal execution video,” International Business Times, January 5, 2018, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/islamic-state-issues-threats-against-hamas-brutal-execution-video-1653878.

India: Wilayat al-Hind

On May 10, 2019, ISIS’s Amaq News Agency announced the creation of a new province in India called Wilayah al-Hind, based in India-administered Kashmir.Robert Postings, “ISIS announces new India and Pakistan provinces, casually breaking up Khorasan,” Defense Post, May 15, 2019, https://thedefensepost.com/2019/05/15/islamic-state-pakistan-province-al-hind/. ISIS claimed credit for clashes with Indian police earlier in the week. Indian police in Kashmir dismissed the claim of a new ISIS province based in Kashmir as propaganda. India formerly fell under the jurisdiction of ISIS’s Khorasan Province, which former members of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan formed in 2015 after pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Khorasan Province previously also included Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of Iran, and other parts of central Asia. ISIS announced a separate province in Pakistan the following week.Fayaz Bukhari and Alasdair Pal, “Islamic State claims ‘province’ in India for first time after clash in Kashmir,” Reuters, May 11, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-islamic-state/islamic-state-claims-province-in-india-for-first-time-after-clash-in-kashmir-idUSKCN1SH08J; “ISIL claims ‘province’ in India, officials call it ‘propaganda,’” Al Jazeera, May 12, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/isil-claims-province-india-officials-call-propaganda-190512092230131.html; Ayaz Gul, “Islamic State Announces ‘Pakistan Province,’” Voice of America, May 15, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/islamic-state-announces-pakistan-province.

Libya: Wilayat al-Tarabulus, al-Barqa, and al-Fezza

ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the creation of Libya’s wilaya in November 2014.Dougal Ernst, “Islamic State takes Libyan city; 100K under terror group’s control as chaos spreads,” Washington Times, November 18, 2014, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/18/islamic-state-takes-libyan-city-100k-under-terror-/. Since then, ISIS in Libya has divided its control into three provinces: Wilayat al-Tarabulus (a.k.a. Wilayat Tripolitania) in the west, Wilayat Barqa in the east, and Wilayat Fezza in the south.Tim Lister, “ISIS atrocity in Libya demonstrates its growing reach in North Africa,” CNN, February 17, 2015, http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/16/africa/isis-libya-north-africa/. In January 2015, Wilayat al-Tarabulus attacked the five-star Corinthia hotel in Tripoli, killing nine people including five foreign nationals.Jack Moore, “ISIS Attack on Tripoli Hotel Opens New Front Against West,” Newsweek, January 27, 2015, http://www.newsweek.com/isis-attack-tripoli-hotel-opens-new-front-against-west-302567. The U.S. Department of State designated ISIS’s Libya branch as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2016. “Terrorist Designations of ISIL-Yemen, ISIL-Saudi Arabia, and ISIL-Libya,” U.S. Department of State, May 19, 2016, http://m.state.gov/md257388.htm. Since then, a combination of Libyan forces and U.S. airstrikes are believed to have driven many ISIS fighters from its former stronghold in Sirte. Despite losing ground in Sirte, the group has a presence in other parts of the country.Lamine Chikhi, “U.S. on watch for Islamic State dispersing in Libya: official,” Reuters, December 1, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-usa-idUSKBN13Q4PT;
“Islamic State forced Philippine nurses to give medical training in Libya,” Reuters, February 27, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security-prisoners-idUSKBN1662KR.

In 2015, Baghdadi appointed Abul-Mughirah al-Qahtani to oversee ISIS’s provinces in Libya.“Eastern Libyan forces say they killed Islamic State leader,” Reuters, September 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security/eastern-libyan-forces-say-they-killed-islamic-state-leader-idUSKCN26E3BW?il=0; “Libyan army announces killing of ISIS leader in North Africa,” ANHA Hawer News Agency, September 23, 2020, http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/libyan-army-announces-killing-of-isis-leader-in-north-africa-h19445.html. Qahtani was killed in a November 2015 U.S. airstrike in Derna. In March 2016, ISIS announced Abdul Qadr al-Najdi as its new leader in Libya.“New Islamic State leader in Libya says group ‘stronger every day,’” Reuters, March 10, 2016, http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-security-islamic-state-idUKKCN0WC1DN. Al-Najdi reportedly died in September 2020.“Eastern Libyan forces say they killed Islamic State leader,” Reuters, September 23, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-security/eastern-libyan-forces-say-they-killed-islamic-state-leader-idUSKCN26E3BW?il=0. In March 2021, forces loyal to Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar arrested the “most prominent leader” of ISIS in Libya, Mohamed Miloud Mohamed, a.k.a. Abu Omar.“Eastern Libya Forces Say Arrested ‘Prominent IS Leader’ Abu Omar,” Defense Post, March 15, 2021, https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/03/15/eastern-libya-forces-arrest-abu-omar/. Mohamed had participated in ISIS’s 2015 takeover of Sirte and reportedly had close ties with al-Najdi.Agence France-Presse, “Eastern Libya Forces Say Arrested Top Islamic State Figure,” Barron’s, March 14, 2021, https://www.barrons.com/news/eastern-libya-forces-say-arrested-top-islamic-state-figure-01615757404.

ISIS’s roots in Libya can be traced back to the spring of 2014, when a group of Libyans fighting for ISIS in Syria and Iraq—the “Battle Brigade—returned to Libya and established the Islamic Youth Shura Council, which then pledged allegiance to ISIS.Frederic Wehrey and Ala’ Alrababa’h, “Rising Out of Chaos: The Islamic State in Libya,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 5, 2015, http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=59268.

Mali and Niger: Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel), formerly Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS)

ISGS is based in Mali and Niger and has carried out multiple attacks in northern Mali as well as neighboring Burkina Faso. In May 2015, Adnan al-Sahrawi and his followers split from al-Mourabitoun and pledged allegiance to ISIS. ISIS’s Amaq News Agency recognized the pledge in October 2016.“Islamic State in the Greater Sahara,” United Nations, February 23, 2020, https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/islamic-state-greater-sahara-isgs. The ISGS reportedly includes members of the Peul ethnic group from the Mali-Niger border region. Sahrawi and the ISGS have reportedly carried out several attacks on military targets in Niger.“Ambush of US forces in Niger reveals rise of jihadist splinter groups,” France 24, October 19, 2017, http://www.france24.com/en/20171019-jihadist-ambush-usa-forces-niger-danger-sahel-islamic-state-jihadi-terrorism. The U.S. government sanctioned Sahrawi and ISGS in May 2018.“State Department Terrorist Designations of ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) and Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi,” U.S. Department of State, May 16, 2018, https://2017-2021.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-isis-in-the-greater-sahara-isis-gs-and-adnan-abu-walid-al-sahrawi/index.html. The United Nations sanctioned ISGS in February 2020.“Islamic State in the Greater Sahara,” United Nations, February 23, 2020, https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/content/islamic-state-greater-sahara-isgs. During a meeting of G5 Sahel leaders in January 2020, France declared Sahrawi a “major enemy.”Tom Wheeldon, “Sahrawi: The top Sahel jihadist killed in French ‘opportunistic hit,’” France 24, September 16, 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210916-the-assassinated-abou-walid-al-sahrawi-france-s-major-enemy-in-the-sahel. The French government estimates ISGS is responsible for the deaths of 2,000 to 3,000 people in the region. French forces killed Sahrawi in a drone strike in August 2021.Tom Wheeldon, “Sahrawi: The top Sahel jihadist killed in French ‘opportunistic hit,’” France 24, September 16, 2021, https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20210916-the-assassinated-abou-walid-al-sahrawi-france-s-major-enemy-in-the-sahel.

On the night of June 11, 2022, French forces deployed under Operation Barkhane, France’s counterterrorism mission in the Sahel, carried out an operation on the border between Mali and Niger, capturing ISGS senior leader Oumeya Ould Albakaye in the process. According to the French Armed Forces Ministry, Albakaye was found with several mobile phones, weapons, and “numerous resources.”“France captures Islamic State group leader in Mali,” France 24, June 15, 2022, https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220615-france-captures-islamic-state-group-leader-in-mali; “France says it has captured a senior Islamic State figure in Mali,” Euronews, June 15, 2022, https://www.euronews.com/2022/06/15/france-says-it-has-captured-a-senior-islamic-state-figure-in-mali. According to media sources, Albakaye will be held by French forces for questioning and then handed to the Malian authorities.“France captures Islamic State group leader in Mali,” France 24, June 15, 2022, https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220615-france-captures-islamic-state-group-leader-in-mali. Albakaye is an explosives expert and served as ISGS’s chief in Gourma, Mali and Oudalan, Burkina Faso.“France says it has captured Islamic State bigwig in Mali,” Al Jazeera, June 15, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/15/france-says-it-captured-islamic-states-senior-leader-in-mali. The French army stated that Albakaye is believed to have carried out terrorist attacks against soldiers and civilians in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to undermine French forces within Mali.“France says it has captured a senior Islamic State figure in Mali,” Euronews, June 15, 2022, https://www.euronews.com/2022/06/15/france-says-it-has-captured-a-senior-islamic-state-figure-in-mali. Despite successful operations against ISGS, the last of the French forces withdrew from Mali on August 15, 2022, due to ongoing political and security hostilities between Mali’s military government and their now former Western allies.“French military: Last group of soldiers has left Mali,” Associated Press, August 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/africa-france-niger-82177e46b3ce513d339226d7760849e1.

Since March 2022, ISGS—which had recently rebranded under the name Islamic State Sahel Province (IS Sahel) as the group was declared a separate province—battled with the al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) in the region of Menaka and Gao, the insurgent-heavy areas of Mali’s north. Their fighting from March until October 2022 resulted in around 1,000 civilian deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands. Furthermore, according to U.N. analysts, IS Sahel has shifted their operations further south, having seized the town of Talataye in early September 2022.“October 2022 Monthly Forecast,” Security Council Report, October 2, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2022-10/mali-20.php; “Islamic State (ISIS) Weekly Claims Islamic State Sahel Province Killed More Than 40 Al-Qaeda Affiliate GSIM members, Captured Spy Cell For Wagner Group, Killed Criminals Affiliated With Tuareg Rebel Group,” Middle East Media Research Institute, August 7, 2023, https://www.memri.org/jttm/islamic-state-isis-weekly-claims-islamic-state-sahel-province-killed-more-40-al-qaeda-affiliate. As of August 2023, IS Sahel has not been ousted from Talataye,“Mali: Coordinated Massacres by Islamist Armed Groups,” Human Rights Watch, October 27, 2022, https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/27/mali-coordinated-massacres-islamist-armed-groups. and continues to be a heavy threat to Mali and Burkina Faso as the two countries, and increasingly Niger, are unable to sustainably curtail the extremist group’s activities.“Actor Profile: The Islamic State Sahel Province,” Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, January 13, 2023, https://acleddata.com/2023/01/13/actor-profile-the-islamic-state-sahel-province/; Flore Berger, “The Silent Threat Kidnappings in Burkina Faso,” Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, March 2023, https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Flore-Berger-The-silent-threat-Kidnappings-in-Burkina-Faso-GI-TOC-March-2023.pdf. According to the United Nations in August 2023, IS Sahel has doubled the amount of territory they control in Mali since 2022. In particular, the group controls rural areas in eastern Menaka and large parts of the Asongo area in northern Gao.“Letter dated 3 August 2023 from the Panel of Experts on Mali established pursuant to resolution 2374 (2017) addressed to the President of the Security Council Letter dated 3 August 2023 from the Panel of Experts on Mali established pursuant to resolution 2374 (2017) addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, August 3, 2023, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S_2023_578.pdf.

Nigeria: Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)

ISIS accepted Nigerian-based terror group Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance in March 2015.Agence France-Presse, “IS welcomes Boko Haram allegiance: tape,” Yahoo News, March 12, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/accepts-allegiance-nigeria-jihadists-boko-haram-201513146.html. Boko Haram, now called Wilayat Gharb Ifriqiyaa or the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), has waged an insurgency to impose sharia in northern Nigeria since 2009, resulting in the death of approximately 4,000 civilians in 2015 alone.“Boko Haram death toll escalates,” eNCA, October 1, 2015, https://www.enca.com/africa/boko-haram-death-toll-escalates. Boko Haram split into two groups when ISIS appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the head of the ISWAP in August 2016. Although Boko Haram founder Abubakar Shekau did not win the endorsement of ISIS, he refused to relinquish his authority and has continued to lead a group of followers under the banner of Boko Haram. Shekau has maintained his allegiance to ISIS and, in March 2017, began including ISIS logos in official Boko Haram videos.Helen Nianias, “Abubakar Shekau and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: What unites the Islamic extremist Boko Haram and Isis leaders?,” Independent (London), March 9, 2015, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/abubakar-shekau-and-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-what-unites-the-islamic-extremist-boko-haram-and-isis-10095802.html.; Hamdi Alkhshali and Steve Almasy, “ISIS leader purportedly accepts Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance,” CNN, March 12, 2015, https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/12/middleeast/isis-boko-haram/.; Omar S Mahmood and Ndubuisi Christian Ani, “Factional Dynamics within Boko Haram,” Institute for Security Studies, July 2018, https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-07-06-research-report-2.pdf.

Since the split, the attacks carried out by each faction are sometimes difficult to differentiate. One difference, however, is that ISWAP controls territory in the Lake Chad Basin area in northern Borno State whereas Shekau’s faction controls land in central and southern Borno State, including Boko Haram’s historical territorial stronghold of the Sambisa Forest.Jason Warner, “Sub-Saharan Africa’s Three “New” Islamic State Affiliates,” Combating Terrorism Center, January 2017, https://ctc.usma.edu/sub-saharan-africas-three-new-islamic-state-affiliates/.

In February of 2019, al-Barnawi was reportedly replaced as the leader of ISWAP.John Campbell, “Suspected Leadership Changes to IS-Backed Boko Haram Faction Continue,” Council on Foreign Relations, March 12, 2019, https://www.cfr.org/blog/suspected-leadership-changes-backed-boko-haram-faction-continue; “ISIS-backed Boko Haram faction allegedly gets new leader,” Punch, March 5, 2019, https://punchng.com/isis-backed-boko-haram-faction-allegedly-gets-new-leader/; “Deposed Boko Haram leader detained not killed: sources,” France 24, March 15, 2019, https://www.france24.com/en/20190315-deposed-boko-haram-leader-detained-not-killed-sources. On March 4, 2019, Boko Haram announced that al-Barnawi was demoted to a member of the group’s Shura council, and that Abu Abdullah Ibn Umar al-Barnawi (a.k.a. Ba Idrissa) replaced him as leader.Jacob Zenn, “Who is the Leader of ISWAP? – Confusion Continues Over Leadership of Islamic State in West Africa Province,” Jamestown Foundation Militant Leadership Monitor 10, no. 10, November 4, 2019, https://jamestown.org/brief/who-is-the-leader-of-iswap-confusion-continues-over-leadership-of-islamic-state-in-west-africa-province/. The specific reason for this leadership shake-up is unknown, but it occurred against the backdrop of larger internal disputes within the organization. In early 2020, infighting within Boko Haram continued, and al-Barnawi’s successor Ba Idrissa was similarly purged. It is currently unclear if al-Barnawi survived the infighting and if he is currently alive.Jacob Zenn, “Islamic State in West Africa Province’s Factional Disputes and the Battle With Boko Haram,” The Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Monitor 18, no. 6, March 20, 2020, https://jamestown.org/program/islamic-state-in-west-africa-provinces-factional-disputes-and-the-battle-with-boko-haram/.

ISIS reinstalled al-Barnawi as leader of ISWAP in April 2021.Jacob Zenn, “ISWAP Launches Hearts and Minds Strategy to Counter Nigerian Army Offensive,” Jamestown Foundation, June 4, 2021, https://jamestown.org/program/iswap-launches-hearts-and-minds-strategy-to-counter-nigerian-army-offensive/. ISWAP and Boko Haram continued to violently clash, resulting in the death of Boko Haram leader Shekau the following month in a confrontation with ISWAP fighters.“ISWAP militant group says Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader is dead,” Reuters, June 7, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/islamic-state-west-african-province-says-nigerias-boko-haram-leader-is-dead-2021-06-06/. In June 2021, ISWAP released an audio message of al-Barnawi confirming Shekau’s death, which he said had been directly ordered by ISIS leader al-Quraishi.“ISWAP militant group says Nigeria’s Boko Haram leader is dead,” Reuters, June 7, 2021, https://www.reuters.com/world/islamic-state-west-african-province-says-nigerias-boko-haram-leader-is-dead-2021-06-06; Jason Burke, “Boko Haram leader killed on direct orders of Islamic State,” Guardian (London), June 7, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/07/boko-haram-leader-abubakar-shekau-killed-on-direct-orders-of-islamic-state.

On October 14, 2021, Nigeria’s military confirmed al-Barnawi had been killed. The military did not provide details of the location of or circumstances leading to al-Barnawi’s death.Chinedu Asadu, “Nigerian military says leader of IS-linked group is dead,” Associated Press, October 14, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/africa-chad-nigeria-islamic-state-group-boko-haram-6fcc3b1951a0bec957931e0f80279ab7. Following al-Barnawi’s death, Malam Bako, a member of ISWAP’s Shura Council, allegedly assumed leadership of ISWAP.Chinedu Asadu, “Nigerian military says leader of IS-linked group is dead,” Associated Press, October 14, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/africa-chad-nigeria-islamic-state-group-boko-haram-6fcc3b1951a0bec957931e0f80279ab7; “Nigerian official says new leader of ISIL-linked group killed,” Al Jazeera, October 22, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/22/nigerian-official-says-new-leader-of-isil-linked-group-killed. Nigerian security forces killed Bako, and another prominent member of ISWAP in an undisclosed location on October 20.“Nigerian official says new leader of ISIL-linked group killed,” Al Jazeera, October 22, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/22/nigerian-official-says-new-leader-of-isil-linked-group-killed; “ISWAP: NSA confirms killing of Al Barnawi’s successor, Malam Bako,” Premium Times, October 22, 2021, https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/491057-iswap-nsa-confirms-killing-of-al-barnawis-successor-malam-bako.html. In November 2021, Sani Shuwaram was appointed the new leader of ISWAP.“Sani Shuwaram Is Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP)'s New Leader,” Nigerian Voice, November 6, 2021, https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/303442/sani-shuwaram-is-islamic-states-west-africa-province-iswap.html. On March 20, 2022, Nigerian media reported Shuwaram had been killed, along with multiple other ISWAP fighters, in a Nigerian airstrike in the Sabon Tumbuns general area of Lake Chad. Mallam Bako Gorgore was reportedly named as Shuwaram’s replacement.Odita Sunday, “Air force allegedly kill ISWAP leader, Sani Shuwaram, others,” Guardian (Lagos), March 20, 2022, https://guardian.ng/news/air-force-allegedly-kill-iswap-leader-sani-shuwaram-others/; Ekene Coleman, “Bako Gorgore To Replace Killed ISWAP Leader, Sani Shuwaram,” Independent (Lagos), March 21, 2022, https://independent.ng/bako-gorgore-to-replace-killed-iswap-leader-sani-shuwaram/.

According to U.N. analysts, as of early 2022, ISWAP has between 4,000 and 5,000 fighters.“Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province,” Congressional Research Service, February 24, 2022, https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/IF10173.pdf.

Despite the Nigerian military’s success in targeting Boko Haram members, ISWAP has carried out significant attacks in 2022. On July 5, 2022, ISWAP militants raided the Kuje maximum prison in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. According to media sources, the militants detonated “very high-grade explosives” killing a security officer and injuring three others. While 879 inmates fled, more than half were returned to the prison while 443 inmates remain at large. The raid occurred a month after ISWAP gunmen detonated explosives and opened fire on a Catholic church in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria on June 5. The assailants shot and killed at least 40 to 50 people and injured 87 others. The attack was the first time ISWAP—which regularly carries out attacks in the northeast or northwest of the country—had been blamed for an attack in the southwest.“IntelBrief: ISWAP Engineers Prison Break in Nigeria in Signs of Renewed Offensive,” Soufan Center, July 11, 2022, https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2022-july-11/; Timothy Obiezu, Voice of America, June 10, 2022, https://www.voanews.com/a/nigerian-authorities-say-terror-group-iswap-responsible-for-church-massacre-/6612480.html; “Nigeria recaptures 27 inmates after jail attack claimed by Islamic State,” Reuters, July 8, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-recaptures-27-inmates-after-jail-attack-claimed-by-islamic-state-2022-07-07/.

North Caucasus: Wilayat Qawqaz

In June 2015, ISIS announced the creation of a governorate in Russia’s North Caucasus, after months of garnering support in the region. The governorate is reportedly comprised of former al-Qaeda militants in the region who pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the months leading up to the announcement.Alessandria Masi, “How Russian Militants Declared A New ISIS ‘State’ In Russia’s North Caucasus,” International Business Times, June 26, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/how-russian-militants-declared-new-isis-state-russias-north-caucasus-1984613. More than a dozen suspected ISIS fighters have been arrested in Russia since the announcement.“Around 20 Islamic State recruiters arrested in Moscow: RIA,” Reuters, March 30, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-islamic-state-arrests-idUSKCN0WW1NT.

Pakistan: Wilayat Pakistan

On May 14, 2019, ISIS’s Amaq News Agency announced the creation of a Pakistan province, which claimed credit for killing a Pakistani police officer earlier in the week. Pakistan’s government denied that ISIS had created a base in the country. Pakistan formerly fell under the jurisdiction of ISIS’s Khorasan Province, which former members of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan formed in 2015 after pledging allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Khorasan Province previously also included Afghanistan, India, parts of Iran, and other parts of central Asia. ISIS announced a separate province in India the previous week.Fayaz Bukhari and Alasdair Pal, “Islamic State claims ‘province’ in India for first time after clash in Kashmir,” Reuters, May 11, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-islamic-state/islamic-state-claims-province-in-india-for-first-time-after-clash-in-kashmir-idUSKCN1SH08J; “ISIL claims ‘province’ in India, officials call it ‘propaganda,’” Al Jazeera, May 12, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/isil-claims-province-india-officials-call-propaganda-190512092230131.html; Ayaz Gul, “Islamic State Announces ‘Pakistan Province,’” Voice of America, May 15, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/islamic-state-announces-pakistan-province.

Saudi Arabia: Wilayat al-Haramayn

ISIS declared a governorate in Saudi Arabia in November 2014.Landon Shroder, “Saudi Arabia Has a Big Islamic State Problem,” VICE News, July 31, 2015, https://news.vice.com/article/saudi-arabia-has-a-big-islamic-state-problem. Since then, ISIS has been involved in a number of attacks in Saudi Arabia, including the November 2014 targeting of a Shiite shrine in al-Dalwa village, the November 2015 shooting of a Danish resident in Riyadh, and a thwarted multiple car bombing attack east of Riyadh in April 2015.Orlando Crowcroft, “Isis: Who is behind the Islamic State's latest franchise in war torn Yemen?” International Business Times, April 27, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-who-behind-islamic-states-latest-franchise-war-torn-yemen-1498532;
Lazaro Gamio, Bonnie Berkowitz, and Denise Lu, “What a year of Islamic State terror looks like,” Washington Post, last modified November 15, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/islamic-state-attacks/. In May 2015, ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, killing more than 20 people and wounding more than 120 others.David D. Kirkpatrick, “ISIS Claims Responsibility for Bombing at Saudi Mosque,” New York Times, May 22, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/world/middleeast/suicide-bombing-saudi-arabia-shiites-sunnis-yemen-mosque.html. In August 2015, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque in southern Saudi Arabia, killing 15 people.Ben Hubbard, “At Least 15 Die at Saudi Mosque from Suicide Bomber,” August 6, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/07/world/middleeast/suicide-bombing-saudi-arabia.html.

The U.S. Department of State designated ISIS’s Saudi branch as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2016. “Terrorist Designations of ISIL-Yemen, ISIL-Saudi Arabia, and ISIL-Libya,” U.S. Department of State, May 19, 2016, http://m.state.gov/md257388.htm.

Turkey: Wilayat Turkey

On July 10, 2019, ISIS released a video of a group of fighters in Turkey pledging allegiance to Baghdadi and declaring a new province in Turkey. The speaker, identified as Abu Qatada at-Turki, threatens both Turkey and the United States. The militants appear in front of the ISIS flag with RPGs, machine guns, grenades, and assault rifles. ISIS has long had a presence in Turkey, which had previously served as a transit point for foreign fighters traveling to Syria. In the September 2015 edition of its propaganda magazine Dabiq, ISIS labeled the Turkish government apostates and called the country a “priority for … jihad.”Rikar Hussein, Ezel Sahinkaya, Sirwan Kajjo, and Nafisa Hoodbhoy, “IS Decentralizing Into 'Provinces' in Bid to Return,” Voice of America, July 21, 2019, https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/decentralizing-provinces-bid-return.

In August 2022, the BBC reported details of an ISIS smuggling network in Turkey facilitated by a Canadian intelligence agent during the height of ISIS’s physical caliphate. Prior to his arrest by Turkish authorities in 2015, Mohammed Al Rasheed had smuggled multiple Britons into Syria for at least eight months while sharing their passport information with Canadian authorities through the Canadian embassy in Jordan. Rasheed often photographed identification papers or filmed travelers on his phone. He reportedly mapped the locations of the homes of Western foreign fighters in Syria. He also collected IP addresses and the locations of Internet cafes in ISIS-held territory. Rasheed told Turkish authorities he was collecting information on foreign fighters and passing it to the Canadians in exchange for asylum.Josh Baker, “Shamima Begum: Spy for Canada smuggled schoolgirl to Syria,” BBC News, August 31, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62726954.

Prior to declaring a wilayah in Turkey, the Turkish government has suspected ISIS of responsibility for numerous attacks, including a triple suicide bombing at Ataturk Airport on June 28, 2016, that killed 45, and an August 21, 2016, suicide bombing that killed 51 people at a wedding.Reuters, “ISIS teenager kills 51 in Turkey terror attack,” Ynet, August 21, 2016, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4844296,00.html. ISIS claimed responsibility for a January 1, 2017, shooting at a nightclub in Turkey that killed 39.“Istanbul new year Reina nightclub attack 'leaves 39 dead',” BBC News, January 1, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38481521; Rengin Arslan, “Abdulkadir Masharipov: Who is Istanbul gun attack suspect?,” BBC News, January 17, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38648350; Morgan Winsor, “Turkey Identifies Two of the Three Suicide Bombers in Istanbul Airport Attack,” ABC News, July 1, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/International/turkey-identifies-suicide-bombers-istanbul-airport-attack/story?id=40274048.

Yemen: Wilayat Sana’a

A self-proclaimed ISIS affiliate, calling itself “Wilayat Sana’a” claimed responsibility for a deadly mosque bombing in Yemen in March 2015, in which at least 142 people were killed.Orlando Crowcroft, “Isis: Who is behind the Islamic State's latest franchise in war torn Yemen?” International Business Times, April 27, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-who-behind-islamic-states-latest-franchise-war-torn-yemen-1498532;
Lazaro Gamio, Bonnie Berkowitz, and Denise Lu, “What a year of Islamic State terror looks like,” Washington Post, last modified November 15, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/islamic-state-attacks/;
“Yemen mosque bombings 'could only be done by the enemies of life' – president,” Guardian (London), March 21, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/21/yemen-mosque-bombings-enemies-of-life-president-abedrabbo-mansour-hadi-houthi-isis-al-qaida. In late April 2015, the group formally announced itself as an ISIS governorate. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi confirmed the group’s status as a governorate in November 2015.Orlando Crowcroft, “Isis: Who is behind the Islamic State's latest franchise in war torn Yemen?” International Business Times, April 27, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-who-behind-islamic-states-latest-franchise-war-torn-yemen-1498532; Lazaro Gamio, Bonnie Berkowitz, and Denise Lu, “What a year of Islamic State terror looks like,” Washington Post, last modified November 15, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/islamic-state-attacks/. The U.S. Department of State designated ISIS’s Yemeni branch as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2016. “Terrorist Designations of ISIL-Yemen, ISIL-Saudi Arabia, and ISIL-Libya,” U.S. Department of State, May 19, 2016, http://m.state.gov/md257388.htm.

ISIS has not gained as much traction among Yemenis as al-Qaeda, according to Yemeni officials. Many of the leaders of ISIS in Yemen are Saudi nationals. Compounded with ISIS’s centralized authority based in Syria, many in Yemen’s tribal areas reportedly view the terror group as foreign and disconnected from Yemeni interests. Furthermore, AQAP has forged alliances and worked with local tribal authorities in power-sharing agreements while ISIS leadership has failed to make inroads in Yemeni tribal structure.Asa Fitch and Saleh Al Batati, “ISIS Fails to Gain Much Traction in Yemen,” Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2016, https://www.wsj.com/articles/isis-fails-to-gain-much-traction-in-yemen-1459203675.

General Directorate of Provinces (GDP)

ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces (GDP) are structures that were put in place to maintain the group’s global network, tactical capacity, and reputation following the defeat of the territorial “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.“Letter dated 11 July 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, July 15, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S%202022%20547.pdf. There are nine regional networks that were developed between 2017 and 2019. The operational capacity of each regional network varies widely. However, given constantly evolving challenges, each network plans accordingly and adapts to the security changes in their immediate environment.“Letter dated 11 July 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, July 15, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S%202022%20547.pdf.

In terms of the GDP, within ISIS’s core area, the terror group maintains two distinct organizational structures for Iraq and Syria. The Iraq office is presumably called the Bilad al-Rafidayn office,“Treasury Sanctions Syrian Financial Facilitators Under the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, May 30, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1508. and the Syrian outpost is known as the al-Sham office. Turkey’s division within the GDP, the al-Faruq office, managed Turkey, the Caucasus, the Russian Federation, and parts of Eastern Europe. However, Turkish police have reportedly targeted and arrested key al-Faruq officials, leading ISIS’s network in Turkey to now be managed by the al-Sham office.“Letter dated 11 July 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, July 15, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S%202022%20547.pdf.

ISIS boasts three well-established offices within the GDP. Afghanistan’s Al-Siddiq office covers South Asia and Central Asia. Somalia’s al-Karrar office covers Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ISIS’s regional division in the Lake Chad basin is called al-Furqan and oversees ISIS activity in Nigeria and the western Sahel.“Letter dated 11 July 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, July 15, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S%202022%20547.pdf.

There are three offices that are less active or are struggling to enforce their influence in their objective areas. The Libya-based al-Anfal office reportedly covered northern Africa and the Sahel; the Yemen-based Umm al-Qura office directs and coordinates activity in the Arabian Peninsula; and the Sinai Peninsula based Zu al-Nurayn office is responsible for Egypt and the Sudan.“Letter dated 11 July 2022 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities addressed to the President of the Security Council,” United Nations Security Council, July 15, 2022, https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/S%202022%20547.pdf.

The U.S. Department of State has identified Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i and Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Mainuki as two high-ranking officials within the GDP network. Rufay’i, who previously served as the wali of ISIS’s Iraq province, is the emir of Iraq’s Bilad al-Rafidayn Office, and Al-Mainuki as a senior leader of ISIS’s al-Furqan Office.“Treasury Sanctions Syrian Financial Facilitators Under the Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, May 30, 2023, https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1508.

Financing:

At the height of its power in Iraq and Syria, ISIS was been called the richest terrorist organization in the world.Terrence McCoy, “ISIS just stole $425 million, Iraqi governor says, and became the ‘world’s richest terrorist group’,” Washington Post, June 12, 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/12/isis-just-stole-425-million-and-became-the-worlds-richest-terrorist-group/;
Robert Windrem, “ISIS Is the World's Richest Terror Group, But Spending Money Fast,” NBC News, March 20, 2015, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-uncovered/isis-richest-terror-group-world-n326781. Months after the caliphate’s formation in June 2014, analysts estimated the group’s assets at $1.3–2 billion, with a daily income of $3 million.Mathew Levitt, “Terrorist Financing and the Islamic State,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, November 13, 2014, 2, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/LevittTestimony20141113.pdf;
Martin Chulov, “How an arrest in Iraq revealed Isis's $2bn jihadist network,” Guardian (London), June 15, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/iraq-isis-arrest-jihadists-wealth-power. Since then, coalition airstrikes, military setbacks, and loss of territory have dampened the group’s profits.Mathew Levitt, “Terrorist Financing and the Islamic State,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, November 13, 2014, 2, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/testimony/LevittTestimony20141113.pdf;
Avaneesh Pandey, “ISIS Income Plummets As Oil Revenue, Tax Base Dwindle,” International Business Times, April 18, 2016, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-income-plummets-oil-revenue-tax-base-dwindle-2355291;
“ISIS Financing,” Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, May 2016, 1, 20, http://cat-int.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ISIS-Financing-2015-Report.pdf. ISIS’s annual revenue reportedly fell from $2.9 billion in 2014 to $2.4 billion in 2015, according to the European think tank Center for the Analysis of Terrorism.“ISIS Financing,” Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, May 2016, 1, 20, http://cat-int.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ISIS-Financing-2015-Report.pdf. In 2016, ISIS was estimated to have taken in $870 million, according to findings by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.“Caliphate in Decline: An Estimate of Islamic State’s Financial Fortunes,” ICSR, February 17, 2017, http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ICSR-Report-Caliphate-in-Decline-An-Estimate-of-Islamic-States-Financial-Fortunes.pdf. By June 2017, ISIS had reportedly lost 80 percent of its revenue sources. The group reportedly had a revenue stream of just $16 million during the second financial quarter of 2017, compared with $81 million during the same period in 2015, according to global data-monitoring company IHS Markit.Alastair Jamieson, “ISIS Revenue Falls 80 Percent as Militants Lose Ground in Iraq, Syria,” NBC News, June 30, 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-revenue-falls-80-percent-militants-lose-ground-iraq-syria-n778071. The lost revenue forced ISIS to cut its fighters’ wages by 50 percent in February 2016.Tom Keatinge, “Islamic State: The struggle to stay rich,” BBC, March 8, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35585298. As ISIS’s physical caliphate collapsed in 2018, the terror group sought different avenues of financing.

Militant financing expert Patrick Johnson of the RAND Corporation credited ISIS’s survival and evolution to its strong, diversified fundraising apparatus.Patrick B. Johnston, “Countering ISIL’s Financing,” RAND Corporation, November 13, 2014, http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT419.html. As the group expanded through 2013 and 2014, ISIS derived the largest part of its revenue from the spoils of war, particularly as the group commandeered oil fields and weapons caches.Patrick B. Johnston, “Countering ISIL’s Financing,” RAND Corporation, November 13, 2014, http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT419.html;
“Financing of the Terrorist Organisation Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),” Financial Action Task Force, February 2015, 31, http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/Financing-of-the-terrorist-organisation-ISIL.pdf. While ISIS controlled territory in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2017, the group reportedly derived its income primarily from taxation, oil, looting, and extortion.Jose Pagliery, “Inside the $2 billion ISIS war machine,” CNN Money, December 11, 2015, http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/06/news/isis-funding/; “Caliphate in Decline: An Estimate of Islamic State’s Financial Fortunes,” ICSR, February 17, 2017, http://icsr.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/ICSR-Report-Caliphate-in-Decline-An-Estimate-of-Islamic-States-Financial-Fortunes.pdf.

For years, ISIS controlled oil fields in its strongholds of eastern Syria and northern Iraq, smuggling crude oil by truck in exchange for cash and refined petroleum. Luay al-Khatteeb, “How Iraq’s black market in oil funds ISIS,” CNN, August 22, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/18/business/al-khatteeb-isis-oil-iraq/index.html. Customers reportedly included ISIS sympathizers, as well as those who formally opposed ISIS, including the Turkish and Syrian governments.John Defterios, “ISIS’ struggle to control its oil riches,” CNN, September 4, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/03/business/defterios-oil-isis/index.html?hpt=ibu_c2. For financial purposes, the group also targeted for seizure key infrastructure, including factories and power plants.Glen Carey, Mahmoud Habboush and Gregory Viscusi, “Financing Jihad: Why ISIL Is a Lot Richer Than Al-Qaeda,” Bloomberg, June 26, 2014, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-26/looted-banks-fund-iraq-fighters-eyeing-wealth-al-qaeda-never-had.html. ISIS’s exploitation of the energy assets under its control was hamstrung by maintenance needs, which it reportedly addressed by intimidating on-site engineers.John Defterios, “ISIS’ struggle to control its oil riches,” CNN, September 4, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/03/business/defterios-oil-isis/index.html?hpt=ibu_c2.

ISIS also reportedly fills its coffers through extortion, including bank looting, taxation, and kidnapping for ransom.Jose Pagliery, “Inside the $2 billion ISIS war machine,” CNN Money, December 11, 2015, http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/06/news/isis-funding/. The group has also collected profit from the sale of women and children as sex slaves.Mat Wolf and Shira Rubin, “How to Buy a Slave Girl From ISIS,” Daily Beast, September 3, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/03/the-isis-slave-girl-buyback-schemes.html. In 2014, ISIS allegedly collected at least $25 million in ransom payments, a figure that may in fact be much higher.Mike Bird, “3 Big Sources Of Revenue Help ISIS Make Millions Each Day,” Business Insider, December 4, 2014, http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-islam-terrorist-makes-millions-2014-12#ixzz3RYWZ1VRb. By December 2015, ISIS reportedly collected $45 million annually through kidnapping ransoms, and more than $360 million annually from tax collection.Jose Pagliery, “Inside the $2 billion ISIS war machine,” CNN Money, December 11, 2015, http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/06/news/isis-funding/. However in mid-2017 ISIS lost its last major population centers in Iraq and Syria, thus losing all tax revenue.Jason Burke, “Rise and fall of Isis: its dream of a caliphate is over, so what now?,” Guardian (London), October 17, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/21/isis-caliphate-islamic-state-raqqa-iraq-islamist; Aaron Zelin, “Interpreting the Fall of Islamic State Governance,” The Washington Institute, October 16, 2017, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/interpreting-the-fall-of-islamic-state-governance.

ISIS has also illegally exported valuable antiquities from Iraq and Syria to Turkey.Associated Press, “Islamic State group earning more than $3 million per day,” PBS NewsHour, September 14, 2014, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/islamic-state-group-earning-3-million-per-day/. In May 2015, the United Nations estimated that ISIS earned as much as $100 million annually from the illegal sale of antiquities looted from captured territories.Rick Gladstone, “U.N. Resolves to Combat Plundering of Antiquities by ISIS,” New York Times, May 28, 2015, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jun-07/300970-al-qaeda-claims-2-algerian-attacks.ashx. Professor Michael Danti of Boston University noted that Islamic law specifies “exactly what to do with antiquities when you find them. You sell them and 20% of the profits goes as a tax.”Orlando Crowcroft, “Isis: Islamic State’s war on history and the multimillion dollar global antiquities trade,” International Business Times, April 13, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-islamic-states-war-history-multimillion-dollar-global-antiquities-trade-1496177. The United Nations has condemned ISIS’s antiquities looting as “a form of violent extremism that seeks to destroy the present, past and future of human civilization.”Rick Gladstone, “U.N. Resolves to Combat Plundering of Antiquities by ISIS,” New York Times, May 28, 2015, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jun-07/300970-al-qaeda-claims-2-algerian-attacks.ashx.

The group has also attracted donations from terrorist sympathizers worldwide. Wealthy individuals in the Gulf reportedly provided funding that helped to launch ISIS and other jihadist groups amid the turmoil of the Syrian civil war.Robert Windrem, “Who's Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf 'Angel Investors,' Officials Say,” NBC News, September 21, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006. For example, U.S.-designated Qatari national ‘Abd al-Rahman bin ‘Umayr al-Nu’aymi provided significant financial support to al-Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS’s forerunner, according to the U.S. Treasury.“Treasury Designates Al-Qa’ida Supporters in Qatar and Yemen,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, December 19, 2013, http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2249.aspx. Beyond that, ISIS uses its extensive presence on social media platforms to solicit both small- and large-scale donations.Justin Sink, “ISIS rakes in donations on Twitter,” Hill, October 23, 2014, http://thehill.com/policy/defense/221666-isis-rakes-in-donations-on-twitter.

The loss of its physical caliphate has freed ISIS from its financial responsibilities in maintaining a state. While ISIS can no longer steadily rely on the sale of oil or taxes for income, the group has nonetheless continued to exploit revenue streams established during the caliphate, including ransoms and extortion. Raids on ISIS-linked businesses in Iraq have also shown that ISIS launders its cash reserves through investments in legitimate businesses across the Middle East such as hotels, car dealerships, and real estate. ISIS leaders reportedly smuggled approximately $400 million in Western currencies and gold out of Syria and Iraq as they fled their former strongholds.Joby Warrick, “Retreating ISIS army smuggled a fortune in cash and gold out of Iraq and Syria,” Washington Post, December 21, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/retreating-isis-army-smuggled-a-fortune-in-cash-and-gold-out-of-iraq-and-syria/2018/12/21/95087ffc-054b-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html. Iraqi officials allege ISIS transferred the majority of its wealth Turkey, where it has been invested in gold when not held by individuals. In Iraq and Syria, ISIS reportedly also continues to take advantage of corrupt government officials and extortion to profit from the billions of dollars flow into the countries for reconstruction efforts.David Kenner, “All ISIS Has Left Is Money. Lots of It,” Atlantic, March 24, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/03/isis-caliphate-money-territory/584911/.

ISIS has also taken advantage of the anonymity provided by digital cryptocurrencies to raise and transfer funds globally. According to a 2018 Europol report, ISIS has used cryptocurrencies to fund online terrorist activities but had not yet used it to directly fund a terrorist attack.Karzan Sulaivany, “Islamic State using cryptocurrencies but not to launch attacks in Europe: Europol,” Kurdistan 24, September 20, 2018, https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/4d31e265-facb-4d8b-890f-921fd8601e30; “Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2018,” EUROPOL, https://www.europol.europa.eu/internet-organised-crime-threat-assessment-2018. In November 2018, for example, Zoobia Shahnaz of Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty to converting money from a credit card scam to bitcoin to send to ISIS.“Long Island Woman Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to ISIS,” U.S. Department of Justice, November 26, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/long-island-woman-pleads-guilty-providing-material-support-isis. On April 20, 2019, the day before ISIS’s Easter bombing in Sri Lanka, Israeli blockchain intelligence company Whitestream recorded an increase in ISIS-held bitcoin holdings on the Canadian digital coin platform CoinPayments from approximately $500,000 to $4.5 million. That balance returned to $500,000 the day after the attack.Roy Katsiri, “Bitcoin donations to ISIS soared day before Sri Lanka bombings,” Globes, May 2, 2019, https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-exclusive-isis-funded-sri-lanka-bombings-with-bitcoin-donations-1001284276. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has created guidelines for nations to address the use of digital currencies by terrorist and criminal organizations, which FATF called “serious and urgent.”“Public Statement on Virtual Assets and Related Providers,” FATF, June 21, 2019, http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/fatfrecommendations/documents/public-statement-virtual-assets.html.

After a pair of earthquakes across Syria and Turkey on February 6, 2023, regional observers questioned what became of ISIS’s fortune. In the aftermath of the earthquakes, approximately 20 ISIS fighters escaped a military prison, known as the “Black Prison,” in Rajo, Syria. The escapees reportedly paid between $1,000 and $10,000 for help in their escape from the prison, which was damaged during the earthquake.Joseph Rachman, “Twenty members of ISIS escape Syria’s ‘Black Prison’ after earthquake devastates area,” Independent (London), February 7, 2023, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-prison-earthquake-syria-turkey-b2277451.html. The incident renews questions among regional observers over how the prisoners got hold of such large sums, as well as who accepted the money.Alejandro Alvarez, “The Hunt: ISIS fighters use US money to escape prison during Syria, Turkey quake,” WTOP News, February 9, 2023, https://wtop.com/j-j-green-national/2023/02/the-hunt-isis-fighters-use-us-money-to-escape-prison-during-syria-turkey-quake/.

Recruitment:

Online/Digital Recruitment

Since its inception, ISIS has maintained a powerful online media campaign aimed at recruiting members internationally.“ISIS recruits fighters through powerful online campaign,” CBS News, August 29, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-uses-social-media-to-recruit-western-allies/. According to national security pundit John Little, ISIS “launched [its] offensive with a… media campaign well planned in advance. [The campaign] wasn’t an afterthought.”Alexander Trowbridge, “Jihadist on the move in Iraq with weapons, hashtags,” CBS News, June 16, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-jihadists-on-move-in-iraq-using-weapons-and-twitter-hashtags/. Recruitment methods include slickly produced videos,“Al-Hayat Media Center,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, http://jihadology.net/category/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center/. an online magazine,“The Islamic State’s (ISIS, ISIL) Magazine,” Clarion Project, September 10, 2014, http://www.clarionproject.org/news/islamic-state-isis-isil-propaganda-magazine-dabiq. and the use of social media outlets.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Twitter, Facebook account: James Foley video highlights disturbing, but effective recruitment campaign,” International Business Times, August 20, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-twitter-facebook-account-james-foley-video-highlights-disturbing-effective-1660544.

ISIS’s Al-Hayat Media Center is responsible for much of the group’s marketing and recruitment. The group has also released propaganda materials through media centers Al-Furqan and Al-I’tasim Media, news agencies Amaq Agency and Bayan Radio, as well as through more than a dozen regional media outlets that produce content on behalf of the group’s various wilayas. The center’s explicit goal is to “convey the message of the Islamic State in different languages with the aim of unifying Muslims under one flag.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Twitter, Facebook account: James Foley video highlights disturbing, but effective recruitment campaign,” International Business Times, August 20, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-twitter-facebook-account-james-foley-video-highlights-disturbing-effective-1660544. In addition to pursuing fighters, recruiters seek to attract doctors, accountants, engineers, and wives, in the interest of building a “new society.”Associated Press, “ISIS is recruiting all sorts of people, not just male fighters,” New York Post, December 16, 2014, http://nypost.com/2014/12/16/isis-is-recruiting-all-sorts-of-people-not-just-male-fighters/.

Social Media

ISIS recruiters have utilized social media outlets to “field questions about joining” the group, a process which resembles an “online version of [a] religious seminar.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. CEP has documented as ISIS recruiters exploit online platforms such as Twitter,J.M. Berger, “How ISIS Games Twitter,” Atlantic, June 16, 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/isis-iraq-twitter-social-media-strategy/372856/. Facebook,Rachel Nuwer, “The Social Media Fight Between the U.S. and ISIS is Weirder Than You’d Imagine,” Smithsonian, September 10, 2014, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/social-media-fight-between-us-and-isis-weirder-youd-imagine-180952663/?no-ist. YouTube,J.M. Berger, “How ISIS Games Twitter,” Atlantic, June 16, 2014, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/isis-iraq-twitter-social-media-strategy/372856/. Tumblr,Rachel Nuwer, “The Social Media Fight Between the U.S. and ISIS is Weirder Than You’d Imagine,” Smithsonian, September 10, 2014, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/social-media-fight-between-us-and-isis-weirder-youd-imagine-180952663/?no-ist. Ask.fm,Dina Temple-Raston, “ISIS Used Predatory Tools and Tactics to Convince U.S. Teens to Join,” NPR Morning Edition, December 11, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/370022514/isis-used-predatory-tools-and-tactics-to-convince-u-s-teens-to-join. and Askbook,“Neil Prakash a.k.a. Abu Khaled al-Cambodi,” Counter Extremism Project, accessed August 11, 2016, https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/neil-prakash-aka-abu-khaled-al-cambodi. to advertise and recruit for ISIS. Recruiters also use instant-messaging services such as Telegram,James Billington, “Paris Terrorists Used WhatsApp and Telegram to Plot Attacks According to Investigators,” International Business Times, December 17, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/paris-terrorists-used-whatsapp-telegram-plot-attacks-according-investigators-1533880. WhatsApp,Sebastian Rotella, “ISIS via WhatsApp: ‘Blow Yourself Up, O Lion,’” PBS Frontline, July 11, 2016, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/isis-via-whatsapp-blow-yourself-up-o-lion/;
Harriet Agerholm, “Isis using Whatsapp and Telegram to sell sex slaves,” Independent (London), July 7, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/isis-using-whatsapp-telegram-sell-sex-slaves-iraq-facebook-a7125551.html. Wickr,Umberto Bacchi, “ISIS agents in London dispatching gullible teenage jihadi brides to Syria,” International Business Times, December 19, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-agents-london-dispatching-gullible-teenage-jihadi-brides-syria-1480246. KiK,Laurie Segall, “ISIS Recruiting Tactics: Applie pie and video games,” CNN Money, September 30, 2014, http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/30/technology/isis-recruiting/. and YikYakDina Temple-Raston, “ISIS Used Predatory Tools and Tactics to Convince U.S. Teens to Join,” NPR Morning Edition, December 11, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/370022514/isis-used-predatory-tools-and-tactics-to-convince-u-s-teens-to-join. to provide advice about logistical issues–such as transportation and finances–regarding the trek to Syria as well as instructions on how to carry out domestic attacks on behalf of the terrorist group.Umberto Bacchi, “ISIS agents in London dispatching gullible teenage jihadi brides to Syria,” International Business Times, December 19, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-agents-london-dispatching-gullible-teenage-jihadi-brides-syria-1480246.

Canadian national Mubin Shaikh, a Taliban recruiter turned security operative, claims that recruiters interview potential jihadists to ensure commitment to the cause, as well as to weed out spies.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. According to Shaikh, recruiters use whatever means possible. “If they can Skype you, they’ll Skype you. They want to see what you look like. You can’t be that secretive with them.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. Common interview tactics include testing the recruit’s knowledge of Islamic scholars.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. Shaikh also describes a large net of jihadists, claiming that recruiters often contact established ISIS sympathizers within a potential recruit’s city in order to vet recruits, “whether [the recruit is] American, Canadian or British.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. To avoid detection, recruiters use encryption software and proxy servers during the interview process.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076.

High-Production Videos

ISIS’s Al-Hayat Media Center produces much of the recruitment material disseminated by the terror group, though the group also releases high-production video content through Al-Faruq Media, Al-I’tisam Media, and through regional video producers dispersed throughout the group’s various wilayas.Olivia Becker, “ISIS had a really slick and sophisticated media department,” Vice News, July 12, 2014, https://news.vice.com/article/isis-has-a-really-slick-and-sophisticated-media-department. In May 2014, the media center launched a video series called the Mujatweets, shot in HD quality, to show “snippets of day-to-day life in the Islamic State.”“Al-Hayat media center presents a new video message from the Islamic State: ‘Mujatweets Episode #8’,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, http://jihadology.net/2014/07/25/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-video-message-from-the-islamic-state-mujatweets-episode-8/; Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Twitter, Facebook account: James Foley video highlights disturbing, but effective recruitment campaign,” International Business Times, August 20, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-twitter-facebook-account-james-foley-video-highlights-disturbing-effective-1660544; “New ISIS Media Company Addresses, English, German and French-Speaking Westerns,” Middle East Media Research Institute, June 23, 2014, http://www.memrijttm.org/new-isis-media-company-targets-english-german-and-french-speaking-westerners.html. The Mujatweets serve as explicit propaganda, aimed at depicting life in the Islamic State as bountiful and heroic.

In the first episode of Mujatweets, an ISIS fighter appeals to Western jihadists by singing in German.“Al-Hayat media center presents a new video message from the Islamic State: ‘Mujatweets Episode #1’,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, http://jihadology.net/2014/05/31/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-video-message-from-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-al-sham-mujatweets-episode-1/. In the sixth episode, a member of ISIS speaks in French, claiming that it is an obligation for Muslims to immigrate to the Islamic State.“Al-Hayat media center presents a new video message from the Islamic State: ‘Mujatweets Episode #6’,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, p. 7, http://jihadology.net/2014/07/19/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-video-message-from-the-islamic-state-mujatweets-episode-6/. In the third and seventh episodes, shots of a sandwich shop and a bustling marketplace aim to attract newcomers with scenes of abundance.“Al-Hayat media center presents a new video message from the Islamic State: ‘Mujatweets Episode #3’,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, http://jihadology.net/2014/06/11/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-video-message-from-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-al-sham-mujatweets-episode-3/; “Al-Hayat media center presents a new video message from the Islamic State: ‘Mujatweets Episode #7’,” Jihadology, accessed December 17, 2014, http://jihadology.net/2014/07/21/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center-presents-a-new-video-message-from-the-islamic-state-mujatweets-episode-7/. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “the purpose [of the Mujatweets] is to show that life under ISIS rule is peaceful and normal, and to shatter the image of the jihad fighters as fierce religious fanatics by presenting them as ordinary, friendly people eager to help the local population.”“New ISIS Media Company Addresses, English, German and French-Speaking Westerns,” Middle East Media Research Institute, June 23, 2014, http://www.memrijttm.org/new-isis-media-company-targets-english-german-and-french-speaking-westerners.html.

In addition to the Mujatweets series, the al-Hayat media center produces longer recruitment videos, the infamous beheading videos, and online propaganda magazines.“Category: Al-Hayat Media Center,” Jihadology, accessed December 20, 2014, http://jihadology.net/category/al-%E1%B8%A5ayat-media-center/. Al-Hayat media center is notable for high video production quality and consistent circulation. Long War Journal editor Bill Roggio commented on the fast turnout of the al-Hayat’s videos. “Al-Qaeda will issue a propaganda statement, what, once every month? With the Islamic State, I saw the aftermath of the battle of Tabqa that gave them full control of a province in Syria — I saw that video two days after the battle.”Bruce Wallace, “ISIS has mastered high-end video production in its new propaganda wing,” PRI, September 11, 2014, http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-11/isis-has-mastered-high-end-video-production-its-new-propaganda-wing.

Online Magazines and Newsletters: Dabiq, Rumiyah, and al-Naba

Both Dabiq and Rumiyah serve as another recruitment tool for the terror group. The group also releases text missives through its al-Naba newsletter, and through text releases from the group’s propaganda news agency, Amaq.

ISIS’s released its first online, multi-language magazine on July 5, 2014, just one month after capturing the Iraqi city of Mosul. Dabiq was named after a small town in northern Syria where Islamic scriptures prophesized the final apocalyptic battle between Christians and Muslims would be held. The magazine provided English-language readers with battlefield updates, administrative reporting, and religious commentary.Harleen K. Gambhir, "Dabiq: The Strategic Messaging of the Islamic State," (PDF) Institute for the Study of War, August 15, 2014, http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Dabiq%20Backgrounder_Harleen%20Final.pdf. ISIS also used Dabiq’s 15 issues to promote religious propaganda to justify its crimes, such as enslaving and selling Yazidi women as sex slaves.Salma Abdelaziz, “ISIS states its justification for the enslavement of women,” CNN, October 13, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-justification-slavery/. The magazine was available via pro-ISIS Telegram accounts, widely shared on Twitter and Facebook, and briefly available for purchase on Amazon.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Propaganda Magazine Dabiq For Sale On Amazon, Gets Taken Down,” International Business Times, June 10, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-propaganda-magazine-dabiq-sale-amazon-gets-taken-down-1961036.

In September 2016, as it appeared that the town of Dabiq would soon fall to Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army forces, ISIS replaced its magazine with a new one, Rumiyah. The name change sought to shift emphasis away from a mythical final battle between Muslims and Christians that was to take place in Dabiq. The name Rumiyah refers to two hadiths that calls for Islam to conquer Constantinople and then Rome on its path to conquering the West, which ISIS referenced in a eulogy of its recently deceased spokesman Abu Muhammed al-Adnani in Rumiyah’s first issue.Thoms Joscelyn, “Town of Dabiq falls to Turkish-backed forces,” Long War Journal, October 17, 2016, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/10/town-of-dabiq-falls-to-turkish-backed-forces.php; Michael Weiss, “An ISIS Plot to Blow Up Notre Dame Cathedral—and Rule the World?” Daily Beast, September 8, 2016, https://www.thedailybeast.com/an-isis-plot-to-blow-up-notre-dame-cathedraland-rule-the-world; Robin Wright, “The Hand of ISIS at Ohio State,” New Yorker, November 29, 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-hand-of-isis-at-ohio-state. ISIS has used the magazine to call for lone-wolf attacks in Western countries, including the United States and Australia.“In New Magazine “Rumiyah,” IS Calls for Lone-Wolf Attacks in Australia, West,” SITE Intelligence Group, September 5, 2016, https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Jihadist-News/in-new-english-magazine-rumiyah-is-calls-for-lone-wolf-attacks-in-australia-west.html. ISIS releases Rumiyah via pro-ISIS Telegram accounts and social media accounts.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Propaganda Magazine Dabiq For Sale On Amazon, Gets Taken Down,” International Business Times, June 10, 2015, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-propaganda-magazine-dabiq-sale-amazon-gets-taken-down-1961036.

ISIS also releases a weekly newsletter called al-Naba. Distributed as a PDF via Telegram and other social media sites, Al-Naba often covers battlefield updates and interviews with high-ranking ISIS members.R. Green, “SIS Official Weekly 'Al-Naba' Specifically Mentioned The Al-Rawdah Mosque In Sinai, Site Of The Recent Massacre, As A Center Of The 'Infidel Polytheist' Sufis,” MEMRI, November 26, 2017, https://www.memri.org/reports/isis-official-weekly-al-naba-specifically-mentioned-al-rawdah-mosque-sinai-site-recent.

To reach a wide range of audiences, ISIS magazines are translated into a variety of languages, including Arabic, English, French, German, and Russian.Harleen K. Gambhir, “Dabiq: The Strategic Messaging of the Islamic State,” Institute for the Study of War, August 15, 2014, 1, https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Dabiq%20Backgrounder_Harleen%20Final.pdf. ISIS’s online magazines—released en masse through Telegram, Twitter, and other online outlets—are filled with propaganda detailing the group’s strategy. Dabiq and Rumiyah initially encouraged all Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State or carry out domestic attacks, but the messaging has since shifted to encourage more domestic and lone-wolf-style attacks.“ISIS Supporters Distribute Series of Articles Encouraging Lone-Wolf Attacks,” Anti-Defamation League, September 1, 2017, https://www.adl.org/blog/isis-supporters-distribute-series-of-articles-encouraging-lone-wolf-attacks; Daniel Byman, “Beyond Iraq and Syria: ISIS’ ability to conduct attacks abroad,” Brookings, June 8, 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/beyond-iraq-and-syria-isis-ability-to-conduct-attacks-abroad/.

Recruiters’ Psychological Tactics

Some psychologists believe that potential jihadists joined ISIS in their quest for “personal significance” or due to the existential desire to matter and be respected, according to psychology professor Arie W. Kruglanski.Arie W. Kruglanski, “Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion,” Reuters, October 16, 2014, http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/16/joining-islamic-state-is-about-sex-and-aggression-not-religion/. According to this theory, ISIS recruitment measures directly appeal to disaffected and disillusioned individuals seeking to “make their mark.”Arie W. Kruglanski, “Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion,” Reuters, October 16, 2014, http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/16/joining-islamic-state-is-about-sex-and-aggression-not-religion/. MEMRI deputy director Eliot Zweig concurred, stating, “You see messages of camaraderie” rather than difficulty, gore and suffering. “It is ‘come and join us, join me and we'll fight the good fight together.’”“ISIS recruits fighters through powerful online campaign,” CBS News, August 29, 2014, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-uses-social-media-to-recruit-western-allies/. Others claim that recruits are simply “thrill seekers,” or young people craving a “fresh identity.”Bill Briggs, “ISIS Enticement: Why are some American prone to radicalization?” NBC News, October 28, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-enticement-why-are-some-americans-prone-radicalization-n233601. According to terrorism expert Max Abrahms, recruitment over social media lures “ignorant people with respect to religion… [who] would probably fail the most basic test on Islam.”Eric Banco, “Who do people join ISIS? The psychology of a terrorist,” International Business Times, September 5, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/why-do-people-join-isis-psychology-terrorist-1680444; Arie W. Kruglanski, “Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion,” Reuters, October 16, 2014, http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/16/joining-islamic-state-is-about-sex-and-aggression-not-religion/.

The depiction of the Islamic State as a free and open society is another recruiting approach. According to John Horgan, a psychologist who studies terrorists, the exploitation of this image “makes radicalization and recruitment much easier.” Recruits believe that ISIS “is an equal opportunity organization.” Indeed, its recruitment tactics appeal to “everything from the sadistic psychopath to the humanitarian to the idealistic driven,” says Horgan.Eric Banco, “Who do people join ISIS? The psychology of a terrorist,” International Business Times, September 5, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/why-do-people-join-isis-psychology-terrorist-1680444. Andrew Poulin, a Canadian who converted to Islam and immigrated to the Islamic State, was featured in one of the group’s propaganda videos, saying: “Before I come here to Syria, I had money, I had a family, I had good friends. It wasn’t like I was some anarchist or somebody who just wants to destroy the world and kill everybody. I was a regular person. We need the engineers, we need doctors, we need professionals. Every person can contribute something to the Islamic State.”Eric Banco, “Who do people join ISIS? The psychology of a terrorist,” International Business Times, September 5, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/why-do-people-join-isis-psychology-terrorist-1680444.

Recruiters also radicalize by exploiting grievances, declaring that the Muslim world has endured humiliation and victimization at the hands of the West.Arie W. Kruglanski, “Joining Islamic State is about ‘sex and aggression,’ not religion,” Reuters, October 16, 2014, http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/16/joining-islamic-state-is-about-sex-and-aggression-not-religion/. The recruiters paint the choice of every Muslim individual in black and white: either join ISIS and live in dignity, or continue living as a victimized Muslim in a secular land. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in his speech introducing the creation of the “caliphate,” declared, “by Allah’s grace—you have a state and Khilafah [caliphate], which will return your dignity, might, rights, and leadership.”“The Return of Khilafah,” Dabiq, accessed December 16, 2014, p. 7, https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/islamic-state-22dc481biq-magazine-122.pdf. This Manichean approach feeds into the message of obligation. According to terrorism expert Paul Cruickshank, ISIS recruiters flood social media with the message of “you have to join. It’s your religious duty.”Holly Yan, “Why is ISIS so successful at luring Westerners?” CNN, October 7, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/07/world/isis-western-draw/. However, as ISIS lost its territory in Syria and Iraq, its propaganda shifted to encourage more domestic and lone-wolf-style attacks.“ISIS Supporters Distribute Series of Articles Encouraging Lone-Wolf Attacks,” Anti-Defamation League, September 1, 2017, https://www.adl.org/blog/isis-supporters-distribute-series-of-articles-encouraging-lone-wolf-attacks; Daniel Byman, “Beyond Iraq and Syria: ISIS’ ability to conduct attacks abroad,” Brookings, June 8, 2017, https://www.brookings.edu/testimonies/beyond-iraq-and-syria-isis-ability-to-conduct-attacks-abroad/.

On-the-ground Recruitment

ISIS’s on-the-ground recruitment strategies have been growing due to a mounting crackdown on the group’s online recruitment methods.Shiv Malik and Sandra Laville, “Isis recruitment moves from online networks to British mosques,” Guardian (London), September 5, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/isis-recruitment-moves-to-radical-network-and-mosques. Operating mostly in European, American, and Canadian cities, on-the-ground recruiters are believed to include preachers, jihadist sympathizers, and fighters returning from Syria.Shiv Malik and Sandra Laville, “Isis recruitment moves from online networks to British mosques,” Guardian (London), September 5, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/isis-recruitment-moves-to-radical-network-and-mosques. According to a leaked police report, recruiters operate out of mosques, cafes, restaurants, gyms and private homes and apartments.Shiv Malik and Sandra Laville, “Isis recruitment moves from online networks to British mosques,” Guardian (London), September 5, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/isis-recruitment-moves-to-radical-network-and-mosques; Andy Eckardt, “900 Austrian Police Raid Mosques and Homes in Terrorist Search,” NBC News, November 28, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/900-austrian-police-raid-mosques-homes-terrorist-search-n257776. Similar to online recruitment, on-the-ground recruiters act as radicalizing agents who provide logistical support to those who wish to immigrate to the Islamic State.Shiv Malik and Sandra Laville, “Isis recruitment moves from online networks to British mosques,” Guardian (London), September 5, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/isis-recruitment-moves-to-radical-network-and-mosques.

Some reports suggest that young Muslims are radicalized at “pop-up” meetings, which are never held in the same place twice.Steven Morris, “Father of Cardiff jihadists say his sons were radicalized in ‘pop-up’ schools,” Guardian (London), June 23, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/23/father-jihadists-sons-radicalised-cardiff-popup-schools. Others include extremists leafleting in European Muslim communities.Steven Morris, “Father of Cardiff jihadists say his sons were radicalized in ‘pop-up’ schools,” Guardian (London), June 23, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/23/father-jihadists-sons-radicalised-cardiff-popup-schools.

On-the-ground recruitment is believed to take place in Canada also. Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, claims that potential recruits are paired up with “jihadi mentors.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. According to Sohwarwardy, the mentor-recruit relationship can form at “religious seminars, community activities or classes that might look normal to the average Westerner.”Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. Other possible venues for radicalization include “student groups” at colleges and high schools.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076.

On-the-ground radicalization can be instigated by one’s emotional or physical proximity to an extremist. For example, U.S. citizen Douglas McCain—who died in Syria as an ISIS fighter—had lived in the same building as a classmate who joined Somali militant group al-Shabab.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. Similarly, a group of 10 Minnesotan acquaintances were found to have co-conspired to join ISIS abroad in a radicalization process that appeared in to have taken place largely in person.For more information, see CEP’s reports on Abdirizak Warsame, Hamza Naj Ahmed, Abdullahi Yusuf, Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, Adnan Farah, Hanad Mustafe Musse, Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, Abdiwali Nur, Abdurahman Yasin Daud, and Guled Ali Omar.

Training:

The training to become an ISIS soldier is believed to include both ideological and physical components.Alessandria Masi, “ISIS Recruiting Westerners: How the ‘Islamic State’ goes after non-Muslims and recent converts in the West,” International Business Times, September 8, 2014, http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-recruiting-westerners-how-islamic-state-goes-after-non-muslims-recent-converts-west-1680076. During religious training, referred to as sharii, ISIS members receive what ISIS-affiliated Syrian cleric Abu Moussa referred to as “the basics about religion… [during which ISIS trainers] cleanse you from religious innovations and Ba’athist ideas.”Hassan Hassan, “The secret world of Isis training camps – ruled by sacred texts and the sword,” Guardian (London), January 24, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/25/inside-isis-training-camps. New recruits are also believed to undergo physical training. A video released by ISIS’s al-Hayat Media Center in October 2014 depicted recruits participating in training exercises in Iraq’s Nineveh province. The jihadists-in-training were filmed while completing weapons training, hand-to-hand combat exercises, and live-fire training.Caleb Weiss, “Islamic State releases video of training camp in Ninewa,” Long War Journal, October 12, 2014, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/10/islamic_state_releas.php.

At its peak in 2014 and 2015, foreign fighters arriving in ISIS-controlled territory reportedly complete anywhere between a few days of basic weapons training to a year-long intensive training course. The training program for an elite fighting unit, for example, is reported to require 10 levels of training. The first level is believed to include hours of strenuous physical activity such as running, jumping, pushups, and crawling, while higher levels may comprise aquatic training and celestial navigation.Rukmini Callimachi, “How a Secretive Branch of ISIS Built a Global Network of Killers,” New York Times, August 3, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/middleeast/isis-german-recruit-interview.html?_r=0; Hassan Hassan, “The secret world of Isis training camps – ruled by sacred texts and the sword,” Guardian (London), January 24, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/25/inside-isis-training-camps.

In addition to training voluntary recruits, ISIS also reportedly forced captured Syrian pilots to train ISIS fighters using stolen aircraft.“ISIS says forcing detained pilots to train militants: report,” Al Arabiya English, August 30, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/30/ISIS-says-it-forces-abduct-pilots-to-train-fighters.html. In October 2014, eyewitness reports claimed that ISIS had three military aircraft in its possession, and that its fighters had been flying the airplanes over captured military bases in northern Aleppo, Syria.“ISIS in Syria train Iraqi pilots in captured jets- Monitor,” Reuters, last modified October 19, 2014, http://rt.com/news/196784-isis-syria-pilots-training/.

ISIS also has forced children to train as fighters, a war crime under international human rights law.Cassandra Vinograd, Ghazi Balkiz and Ammar Cheikh Omar, “ISIS Trains Child Soldiers at Camps for ‘Cubs of the Islamic State,’” NBC News, November 7, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-trains-child-soldiers-camps-cubs-islamic-state-n241821. This training reportedly took place in camps with names such as “Zarqawi Cubs Camps,” in tribute to al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.Cassandra Vinograd, Ghazi Balkiz and Ammar Cheikh Omar, “ISIS Trains Child Soldiers at Camps for ‘Cubs of the Islamic State,’” NBC News, November 7, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-trains-child-soldiers-camps-cubs-islamic-state-n241821. According to global security firm Flashpoint Intelligence, there have been multiple youth training camps in and around Mosul, as well as in Damascus, Aleppo, and al-Bukamal in eastern Syria.Cassandra Vinograd, Ghazi Balkiz and Ammar Cheikh Omar, “ISIS Trains Child Soldiers at Camps for ‘Cubs of the Islamic State,’” NBC News, November 7, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-trains-child-soldiers-camps-cubs-islamic-state-n241821.

ISIS fighters have also trained children how to use AK-47s and have reportedly used dolls to demonstrate beheadings. “Sometimes they force them to carry [real human] heads in order to cast the fear away from their hearts,” one Iraqi security official told NBC News.Cassandra Vinograd, Ghazi Balkiz and Ammar Cheikh Omar, “ISIS Trains Child Soldiers at Camps for ‘Cubs of the Islamic State’,” NBC News, November 7, 2014, http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/isis-trains-child-soldiers-camps-cubs-islamic-state-n241821. A September 2014 United Nations report found that ISIS deployed children in “active combat during military operations, including suicide bombing missions.”“Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic,” United Nations General Assembly, August 13, 2014, 15, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A.HRC.27.60_Eng.pdf. In February 2016, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point warned that ISIS was mobilizing children at an “increasing and unprecedented rate.”Mia Bloom, John Horgan, and Charlie Winter, “DEPICTIONS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE ISLAMIC STATE’S MARTYRDOM PROPAGANDA, 2015-2016,” Combating Terrorism Center, February 18, 2016, https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/depictions-of-children-and-youth-in-the-islamic-states-martyrdom-propaganda-2015-2016.

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