Origin
means Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It is a name used to refer toan extremist militant group that is located mainly in Syria and Iraq.It started as a splinter group of al-Qaeda and has other name tagssuch as ISIL, Daesh and the Islamic State. It was founded in 1999 byAbu Musab al-Zarqawi. Its reemergence started in Camp Bucca, one ofthe prisons in Iraq. About 12 of frontrunners were confined inCamp Bucca. Its current leader Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Al-Badry aliasAbu Bakr Baghdadi was also there, according to CBS News (2014). AtBucca, the prisoners were radicalized, and an influential allianceemerged between Islamic extremist and Ba’athist loyal to SaddamHussein (CBS News, 2014). Their main symbol which they use in theirflags is this:-
“Nogod but God" and "Mohammed is the Messenger of God”
Theyhave managed to brainwash, recruit and create sympathy from somedisillusioned young Muslims. They recruit both manually and throughsocial media avenues, such as Twitter and Facebook. The exact numberof its members is not known, but it is believed it ranges from 20000to 30000 after recent fights.
Missionand vision
uses Dabiq, its online magazine to set out their missions andvisions. Some of them are:-
Establishinga global caliphate
` Withthe quoting of Qurans prophecy ,that the followers of Rome will fightagainst the followers of Islam, the has taken its meaningliterally and intends to marshal the Muslims society behind them, tofulfill that prophecy(CNN, 2015). The prophecy claims that theIslamic army will conquer Rome and Jerusalem. It is on such principlethat the group has been communicating their messages, with theintention to prepare for the successor of Prophet Mohammed, who willlead the Islam community to war against unbelievers. After creatingthe Caliphate, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi intends to become its caliph.Thus, to protect this caliphate, cannot remain underground. Theymust keep on fighting to establish a territorial authority. It is forthat reason that they have captured cities to demonstrate that theycan govern states with large towns and cities. They have establishedtheir presence not only in Syria and Iraq, but also Libya,Afghanistan, Yemen, and Egypt.
Smashingborders
Thegroup does do not recognize state borders that exist in the worldtoday nor the ideology of citizenship or democracy. It sees them asman-made structures, which provides impediment to the notion of thecaliphate. In various clips, has not hidden its agenda ofsmashing more Sykes-Picot lines, as they have done in Syria and Iraq(CNN, 2015). In their new wars, has produced provinces that haveno similitude to any states –wilayat. By doing so, they claim towill rescue the Muslim minorities all over the world.
PurifyingIslam
has believed that the true worship of Islam has been contaminated.This ideology is propagated by the Sunni group, which intends to killor expel the impure Muslims from caliphate, and they have targetedthe Shia Muslims. 1500 Iraq air force cadet Shia Muslims were killedin Tikrit, June 2014. The hatred against the Shia Muslims wasspearheaded by Zarqawi, whose intentions were to increase tension andenmity between Shia and Sunni. Shias have been accused of trying tointerpret the Quran and misleading people, thus denying Quran itsperfection. For that reason, Shia has been regarded as the greatestdanger that does more harm to the Islamic nation by (CNN, 2015).
Enslavingthe unbelievers
statements never lack the ideology that they will conquer the peopleof the book. claims that they will break the crosses of Rome andenslave their women by Allah’s authority (CNN, 2015). Establishinga caliphate will be possible, if the people of the book and theirallies have been defeated. claims that, non-believers haverejected the truth, made a mockery of it and tried to invalidate thetruth and scare its followers. According to them, there can only beone victor, the righteous, “who are always and forever victorioussince the battle of Noah and until Allah inherits the earth and thoseupon it,” Adnani said (CNN, 2015). They believe that Rome will beconquered either by them or their children and grandchildren.
ExternalRelation
Accordingto UN secretary, Ban Ki Moon, there are 34 extremists groups thathave sworn allegiance to . Some of them are:- Boko Haram(Nigeria), Ansar al-Khilafah and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters(Philippines), al-Huda Battalion, Soldiers of the Caliphate inAlgeria,al-Ansar Battalion and Al-Ghurabaa (Algeria), the IslamicMovement of Uzbekistan(Pakistan/ Uzbekistan). Also, Tehreek-e-Khilafat (Pakistan), Al-Shabaab (Somalia), Jaish al-Sahabahin the Levant (Syria) Jamaat Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (Egypt) Ansaral-Islam (Iraq), and Jund al-Khilafah (Tunisia) among others(Militarytimes,2016).
Funding
Levitt,a former FBI agent says that, there have been reports that people inMosul (Iraq) usually pay some of the cash to , when they withdrawit from their banks(CNN, 2015). The lawlessness in these areas,allows to tax people like a government, extort people andcontrol the bread basket of Syria, which is cotton and wheat.Furthermore, controls some oil refineries and wells thisenables them to smuggle oil in neighboring countries and sell it,generating a lot of income. Levitt adds that the group receives moneyalso, from some sympathizers such as Kuwait and Qatar, though thesecountries have denied the claims (CNN, 2015).
Weapons
Theglobal black market in arms smuggling has had a big impact on where get their weapon. In addition, when captured Iraq militarybases, it seized all the weapons, many of which had been supplied bythe USA(CNN, 2015).These are Abram tanks, MK-19 40mm grenade launchers and M16 rifles.M-46 field guns were also acquired from the Syrian army. Also,private gun vendors do sell weapons to , even if they don’tsupport them. Materials to make bombs range from recycled objectssuch as laptops, cell phones, and garage door openers, which comefrom various areas, while the chemicals used, such as fertilizers anddemolition explosives come from Turkish companies who sell them tolocal people, who in turn sell to . Business Insider, UKmagazine, speculates that has these weapons at their disposal,which they acquired from Iraqi Defense Forces and Syria Army: T-55Tanks, T-62 Tanks, M79 Osa Rocket Launcher, T-72 Ural Tanks, BMP-1Infantry Fighting Vehicles, BRDM-2 Armored Vehicles, RBG-6 GrenadeLaunchers, MT-LB Armored Vehicles, MiG fighter jets, Humvees, SA-16MANPADS, 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS, AK-47s, 105 mm M40 Recoilless Rifle,.Also Antiaircraft Guns, RPG-7s, Multiple Rocket Launchers, , Type59-1 Field Gun,D-30 Howitzer , FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS, 82 mm B-10Recoilless Rifle, Antitank Missiles, DShK 1938 Machine Gun, M198Howitzer, 23 mm ZSU-23-4 Self-Propelled Antiaircraft Guns and122 mm2S1 Gvozdika Self-Propelled Artillery(CNN, 2015).
RecentActivities
Accordingto the New York Times (2016), has captured major cities of Syriaand Iraq, while killing innocent civilians, Iraq and Syria armymembers. The article adds that Belgian capital, Brussels, witnessed aterror attack on 22nd March 2016 that killed 31 civilians and 200others were injured. The act was carried out through a series of bombexplosions. On January 12, 2016, was blamed for a bomb explosionthat happened in the district of central Istanbul, which killed tenpeople and wounded fifteen others. Also, on November 13, 2015, carried out the deadliest attacked that Paris had seen in decades,where over 120 were killed. claimed responsibility for crushinga Russian Metro jet airliner in the Sinai Peninsula that killed 224people, in October, 31, 2015. Also, claimed responsibility on12, November, 2015 for the Lebanon twin suicide bombing, which left43 people dead and 239 wounded. They also claimed responsibility forthe attack of Tunisia beach resort, which killed 39 people, most ofthem being tourists, on 26, June, 2015. Also, claimedresponsibility for the attack on Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia mosque,which left 21 worshippers dead and 120 more wounded. In January, 27,2015, a luxury hotel in Tripoli, the Libya capital was attacked, fourforeigners and five guards were killed, and then later claimedresponsibility. They also claimed responsibility for the attack oftourists in the National Bardo Museum in Tunisia, on 18, March, 2015(New York Times, 2016).
References
BusinessInsider. (2016, January 17). Here are all of ` weapons – BusinessInsider. Retrieved fromhttp://uk.businessinsider.com/isis-military-equipment-arsenal-2016
CBSNews. (2014, November 4). The origins of : Finding the birthplaceof jihad – CBS News. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-origins-of-isis-finding-the-birthplace-of-jihad/
CNN.(2014, October 7). How makes its millions – CNN.com. Retrievedfrom http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/06/world/meast/isis-funding/
CNN.(2015, December 11). : What does it really want? – CNN.com.Retrieved fromhttp://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/11/middleeast/isis-syria-iraq-caliphate/
CNN.(2015, December 9). Amnesty report: armed with U.S. weapons -CNNPolitics.com. Retrieved fromhttp://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/08/politics/amnesty-international-isis-weapons-u-s-
Militarytimes.(2016, February 8). 34 militant groups allegedly pledge allegiance to, UN chief says. Retrieved fromhttp://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/08/34-militant-groups-allegedly-pledge-allegiance-isis-un-chief-says/79996832/
NewYork Times. (2016, March 22). Where Has Directed and InspiredAttacks Around the World – The New York Times. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/17/world/middleeast/map-isis-attacks-around-the-world.html