Tipperary ETB Adult Learning Scheme
the_rise_and_fall_of_isis.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
The Rise and Fall of ISIS
The extremist group which killed American journalist James Foley in 2014 came to widespread attention in the West because of their extreme violence.
However ISIS, previously known as the Islamic State has existed in various forms for nearly 10 years.
The group was founded in Iraq in October 2004. The analysts say that while first known as Al Qaida in Iraq, the group created a series of other organisations, the longest lasting of which was the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), which became ISIL in 2013. However, the group fell out with al Qaida in 2014.
After the group's announcement in June 2014 that it had established a new religious area called a Caliphate, in territory running from the Syria to Iraq, it renamed itself the Islamic State.
The group has become notorious for its use of, mass-casualty attacks, frequently including suicide bombers.
Since 2010, it has taken advantage of the weakness of Iraq's young democratic government - which is trying to govern a divided country.
The group was able to exploit mounting popular discontent with the government during this period, and took the city of Fallujah, expanding its territorial campaign to northern Iraq in June.
It seized control of the city of Mosul, and was seen as a potential threat to the Iraqi state.
Around 500 British-linked citizens are already thought to have travelled to the Middle East to fight with the group.
There has been growing concern over the number of young British Muslims who have joined ISIS.
At the time British Prime Minister David Cameron has said they represent the ''biggest threat to national security that exists today''.
Several youths who are believed to have travelled to the Middle East to fight have been identified, they are from towns such as Cardiff, Aberdeen and Coventry.
At its height, the Islamic State held about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq. By December 2017 it had lost 95 percent of its territory, including its two biggest properties, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, its nominal capital.
The Iraqi Prime Minister declared victory over the Islamic State in Iraq on December 9, 2017.
More Information
What ISIS want. BBC Report
What ISIS want. BBC Report