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Examination of the ISIS Terrorist Group
Thomas Brooks
Melvin Richards
Liberty University
Understanding Terrorism and Homeland Security
2/26/2023
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Examination of the ISIS Terrorist Group
Overview
ISIS is a terrorist organization formed in 2014 from the offshoots of the al Qaeda terrorist
group in the Middle East countries of Syrian and Iraq. Before the formation of ISIS, Islamic
extremists and caliphate organizations were small, poorly managed, and funded. However, ISIS
centralized its power in Syria and Iraq and controlled territories rich in oil and taxable
population, enabling it to fund its operations. The ISIS group use different methods to cause
destruction, including suicide bombings, car bombing, and a mass shooting in crowded places.
ISIS has also expanded its operation from Iraq and Syria to Yemen, south Asia, and North and
West Africa. It also has internationalized military apparatus and sophisticated propaganda and
communication body. This paper analyzes ISIS's ideology, history, structure, and past and
present activities. The paper also examines the financial and administrative capabilities of ISIS.
The History of the ISIS
“The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) was formed in 2014. The foundations for
ISIS were laid in the early 1990s when the al Qaeda group emerged in Pakistan and Afghanistan
to fight far away enemies. However, ISIS is an offshoot of the al Qaeda of Iraq (AQI) group
formed in 2004 by a Jordanian militant, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Abu helped AQI expand after
the US intervention in Iraq in 2003 (Wright et al., 2016). The AQI group prioritized killing Shiite
communities in Iraq and people it deemed opposed to its activities or the apostate Muslims. AQI
group rebranded to “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) in 2006 under Abu Umar al-Baghdadi's
leadership. Abu Bakr al-Baghdad was elected its second leader and led the group from 2010 to
2019. In 2011, fighters of the ISI group left Iraq to form the Nusra Front in Syria.
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In 2013, the ISI group reported massive growth and expansion. According to Stanford CISAC
(2021), “ISI was made possible by several factors, including the US withdrawal from Iraq, a
steady fast campaign to assassinate Iraqi security forces, political chaos in Syria, increased
prison breaks that put many jihadists on the battlefield and exemplary leadership of the group.
The ISI jihadist group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in 2014 after
successfully capturing territories in Syria. Baghdadi died when American forces bombed his
compound in 2019, and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was elected as the group leader ().
Abu Ibrahim was killed in 2022, and the group's new leader is Juma Awad al Badri, brother to
former leader Baghdad.
ISIS Ideology
ISIS, a break-away group from Al Qaeda, holds different ideas and carries out different
projects from Al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda’s ideology is to fight far away enemies and the Zionists and
crusaders while ISIS’s ideology is to create a Muslim territory or caliphate within the Muslim
countries or area and wage international jihad from those areas” (Levallois et al., 2017 p.6). Iraq
was good ground for IS expansion because successive foreign military interventions destabilized
the country. The fighting in Iraq provided ISIS with the opportunity also to control territories
since the government was destabilized. In addition, the IS took advantage of Syria's president
Bashar al-Assad's lack of control over entire Syria territories. It set its base in Raqqa and
continued to expand in the country.
Also, unlike al Qaeda, which recruits elites, ISIS recruited all experienced and inexperienced
people, including women. For example, the military intervention of the United States in Iraq
drove away the Sadam Hussein government from power in 2003. Sadam came from the minority
Sunni community that oppressed the majority community -Shiites. The American military
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installed Shiite leadership in Baghdadi and relegated Sunnis to political oblivion (Stanford
CISAC, 2021). The Iraq security forces also committed several cases of abuse against the Sunni
community resulting in heightened insecurity in the country. Political frustrations made Sunnis
gravitate towards the Salafist jihadist movement and ISIS to fight for control and destabilize the
government.
The Structure and Territory Controlled by ISIS
The structure of ISIS is highly hybridized, with a broad spectrum of followers in Syria, Iraq,
and other areas worldwide. In Iraq, the ISIS faction comprises ex-military officers who served
under the regime of Sadam Hussein and Sunni tribes that feel marginalized by the Shiite
government. In Syria, ISIS comprises universality jihadists from al-Zarqawi school, people who
follow the teachings of al-Zarqawi, its founder. The group's leadership comprises jihadists
radicalized mainly by the American invasion of Iraq.
In 2013, ISIS controlled large territorial areas in Syria and Iraq. The caliphate stretched from
Diyala in Iraq to Aleppo in Syria (Wilson Centre, 2019). However, US-led airstrikes weakened
the group, and today ISIS has no territorial control in any province or area in Syria and Iraq.
However, it continues to wage a low-level insurgency in the states. However, the group has been
able to expand to other Middle East countries, Asia and Africa. In 2022, the US department of
justice linked over nine insurgent groups to ISIS. For example, in the Middle East and North
Africa, there is IS-Libya, IS-Sinai province, and the IS of Khorasan Province (ISKP). The IS-
Sinai province operates in northern Egypt, Sinai. The group pledged its allegiance to the IS in
2014 and are responsible for the 2015 bombing of a Russian plane that killed 224 passenger and
the bombing of a mosque in Sinai that killed over 300 people (Congressional Research Service,
2022). IS-Libya operates in the city of Sirte, but continuous airstrikes from American forces have
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weakened its operations. The ISKP was formed in 2015 by Asia militants, Afghans, and
Pakistanis. It is responsible for attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan after the Taliban
returned to power in 2021.
In sub-Saharan Africa, offshoots of IS include the IS-West Africa Province, IS Greater
Sahara, ISIS DR Congo, and IS Mozambique. The IS-West Africa is an offshoot of Nigeria
insurgents Boko Haram and control areas in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon (Congressional
Research Service, 2022). The Islamic State of the Greater Sahara is an offshoot of the Al Qaeda-
led group Islamic Maghreb and operates in Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Mali. The ISIS- DRC
operates in Congo. It was responsible for more than 1200 death of people in 2021. The IS-
Mozambique is accountable for more than 1700 deaths and the destabilization of more than 700
000 people in the country since 2017. ISIS also has minor control over Yemen provinces and
south Asia countries such as in Philippines and Bangladesh.
Methodology of Attacks and Activities of ISIS
ISIS uses different methods to inflict pain on people they disagree with; this includes suicide
bombings, car bombings, gunman attacks, and shootings in areas many people visit, such as
hotels and nightclubs. ISIS attacks also drive vehicles through people in highly populated areas,
such as restaurants, marketplaces, and beaches. ISIS fighters also attack army posts and police
stations, aiming to overpower security offices and steel firearms (Wilson Centre, 2019). Some of
the notable activities of ISIS is the bombing of a Russian plane, killing 224 passengers in the IS
Sinai province in Egypt in 2015. In November 2015, ISIS-coordinated attacks in Paris, France,
led to 130 deaths and injured more than 300 people. One notable ISIS attack on American soil is
the shooting in a bar in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 that killed four revelers.
Sources of Funds to ISIS
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In Iraq and Syria, ISIS controlled large territorial areas with natural resources such as gas,
oil, and other minerals that it could sell to get money to fund its operations. For example, in
2015, according to the Centre for the Analysis of Terrorism, ISIS controlled more than USD 2
billion in assets. The high concentration of natural resources enables ISIS to gather enough funds
to finance its operations. The funds enabled the ISIS group to name ministers to oversee the
general management of the assets, financing, communication, and general management of the
group. In 2015, oil revenues rose from USD 250 in 2014 to USD 600 in 2015 (Levallois et al.,
2017). The expansion was attributed to the ISIS increase in daily oil production. Besides selling
oil to the international market, the group also used oil to fuel its tanks and armored vehicles.
However, oil revenue has dwindled due to the airstrike from US-led forces, a fall in global oil
prices, and loss of territories.
ISIS also gets funding by taxing people within its territories. ISIS is a proto-state that
runs its affairs like a government. Therefore, in the province it operates, it taxes people, and
everyone is obliged to cooperate or face ex-communication or death. ISIS also get funds from
unacceptable arrangements with companies operating in areas they control. For example, The
Swiss building company, LafargeHolcim cement factory located in Jabaliya, north of Aleppo,
agreed to ISIS's demand for taxes for it to remain in operation (Levallois et al., 2017). The
Lafarge group handed over money through third parties to the company for the factory to remain
in operation, thus funding the terrorists' operations.
There are also other private financial institutions and individuals that back up the activities of
the ISIS groups. For example, NATO accuses Gulf monarchies of funding the war in the Middle
East (Levallois et al., 2017). Other external donors accused of funding ISIS include Muslim
charities, international NGOs, and foundations. For instance, to counter the flow of illegal money
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to the insurgents, the Iraqi central bank blocked 142 exchange offices it accused of allowing IS
money to flow into its territory.
Conclusion
ISIS threatens the world through its continued existence and operation in various parts of
the world. Countries worldwide should join hands and fight the insurgents in every part of the
world to guarantee peace and freedom for people. Africa is the new frontier of Islamic state
operations. Government should work together to eliminate the insurgents, their support, and their
network before it sprawls out of control.
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References
Congressional Research Service. (2022, May 10). The Islamic State. Retrieved February 25,
2023, from https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10328/20
Crisis Group. (2021, June 16). Exploiting disorder: Al-Qaeda and the Islamic state. Crisis
Group. Retrieved February 25, 2023, from https://www.crisisgroup.org/global/exploiting-
disorder-al-qaeda-and-islamic-state
Levallois, A., COUSSERAN, J. C., & KERRELLO, L. (2017). The financing of the Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Stanford CISAC. (2021).The Islamic State. CISAC. Retrieved February 25, 2023, from
https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/islamic-state
Wilson Centre. (2019). Timeline: The rise, spread, and fall of the Islamic state. Wilson Center.
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spread-and-fall-the-islamic-state
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