The evolution of Islamic State
How one terrorist group has grown in influence, reach and deadliness
By THE DATA TEAM
“ENDURING and expanding”: Islamic State’s motto omits its obsession with killing and annihilating its enemies, but otherwise sums up the group's ambitions pretty well. The first deadly attack by the group can be traced to 2002, when Tawhid wal-Jihad, an Iraqi predecessor, assassinated an American aid worker in Jordan. In the 14 years since, Islamic State (IS) has accounted for one in every seven terrorist* attacks worldwide and a quarter of all terror-related deaths, according to data gathered by researchers at the University of Maryland. Last year IS and its affiliates committed or inspired attacks in 33 countries, killing 10,358 people.
The group has gone through many iterations: from Tawhid wal-Jihad it became known to many as al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004 and, two years later, it called itself Islamic State in Iraq. It was nearly wiped out in 2008 by Sunni tribal fighters allied with American forces. In 2013 it expanded into Syria and became Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (sometimes Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, hence the different acronyms, ISIL and ISIS). The following year, when it took Mosul and much of northern and western Iraq, it declared a “caliphate” under its newest moniker, Islamic State.
That helped encourage pledges of allegiance from other jihadist groups, both pre-existing and new, in places such as Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and the Philippines. In September 2014 IS urged Muslims across the world to rise up and kill non-Muslims. Several particularly gruesome attacks took place in France, Belgium and the United States, showing how the group could both orchestrate attacks and inspire individuals to kill under its name.
One reason it is striking out abroad, say analysts, is that IS has been losing territory in its heartland of Iraq and Syria over the past 18 months, partly because of American air strikes and Russia’s support for the regime of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. In recent weeks IS has taken the rare step of acknowledging territorial losses in Syria. Yet its ability to inspire others to commit bloody acts appears as strong as ever.
*Incidents were collected according to the following definition of terrorism: "the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation."