Islamic State of Iraq

rdf:langString Islamic State of Iraq

rdf:langString Islamic State of Iraq

rdf:langString the Iraq War, the Iraqi insurgency, the Syrian Civil War, and the Global War on Terrorism

rdf:langString Al-Nusra Front

rdf:langString Caucasus Emirate

rdf:langString Free Syrian Army

rdf:langString Ghuraba al-Sham

rdf:langString Naqshbandi Army

rdf:langString Syrian Islamic Front * Ahrar al-Sham

rdf:langString Iraq and Syria

rdf:langString Logo of Islamic State in Iraq

rdf:langString Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Leader

rdf:langString Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Leader

rdf:langString Abu Ayyub al-Masri War minister and Prime minister

rdf:langString

rdf:langString Arabic

rdf:langString Free Syrian Army

rdf:langString Iraq

rdf:langString Iraqi Kurdistan

rdf:langString Multi-National Force – Iraq

rdf:langString Naqshbandi Army

rdf:langString Kurdish Supreme Committee and allied groups * People's Protection Units * Women's Protection Units *Asayish * Syriac Military Council *Sutoro

rdf:langString al-Qaeda

rdf:langString al-Qaeda in Iraq

rdf:langString Al-Nusra Front

rdf:langString The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; Arabic: دولة العراق الإسلامية Dawlat al-ʿIrāq al-ʾIslāmiyyah), commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq (Arabic: القاعدة في العراق al-Qāʿidah fī al-ʿIrāq), was a militant Salafist jihadist group that aimed to establish an Islamic state in Sunni, Arab-majority areas of Iraq during the Iraq War and later in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Islamic State of Iraq traces its origins to Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, which was formed by the Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Jordan in 1999. Al-Zarqawi led the group, under numerous name changes, until his death in June 2006. Jama'at participated in the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces, and on 17 October 2004 al-Zarqawi had pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network; and the group became known as Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq). In January 2006, Tanzim and five other Iraqi insurgent groups formed the Mujahideen Shura Council, which on 15 October 2006 merged to form Islamic State of Iraq. At their height in 2006–2008, ISI had military units or strongholds in Mosul and in the governorates of Baghdad, Al Anbar and Diyala, and they claimed Baqubah as their capital. The area under its control decreased dramatically following the 2007 troop surge, during which dozens of ISI leaders were killed by coalition forces. The new group continued to be commonly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq. Shortly after al-Zarqawi's death, al-Qaeda in Iraq named a new leader, Abu-Hamzah al-Muhajir, thought to be a pseudonym, which the US military named as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, an Egyptian militant based in Baghdad. Al-Masri and ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were killed during a military operation on a safehouse on 18 April 2010. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was succeeded as leader of ISI by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. On 14 May 2010, al-Masri was succeeded by Abu Suleiman al-Naser (also known as al-Nasser Lideen Illah Abu Suleiman), who was in turn killed some time in 2011. Following Suleiman's death, the position of "War Minister" was replaced by a Military Council composed of former regime military officers under the leadership of Haji Bakr. On 7 April 2013 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi transformed ISI into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS, IS), which is still active today. Haji Bakr, whose name was Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi, was killed in January 2014, and was succeeded by Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi as head of the ISIL Military Council. Al-Bilawi was killed on 4 June 2014, and was reportedly succeeded by Abu Mohannad al-Sweidawi as leader of the ISIL Military Council. There were reports in November 2014 that al-Sweidawi had been killed in an Iraqi airstrike that reportedly also injured Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Daily Beast reported that al-Sweidawi was succeeded by senior ISIL figure Abu Ali al-Anbari, who was in turn killed on 24 March 2016. Al-Anbari was considered the ISIL second-in-command in Syria and was viewed as a potential successor of ISIL's present leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The second-in-command in Iraq was Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, who was killed on 18 August 2015, and who was succeeded as the ISIL leader in Iraq by Abu Fatima al-Jaheishi.