Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi started a group called Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Organization of … See more

On 13 and 15 October 2006, messages on the Internet issued by the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) officially declared the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which should encompass the governorat… See more

The Washington Post reported that AQI and its successor organization Islamic State of Iraq came to control large parts of Iraq between 2005 and 2008. In autumn 2006, AQI had taken over Baqubah, the capital of Diyala Gov… See more

3 January 2009, a suicide bomb attack in Yusufiyah, 25 miles from Baghdad, killed 23 people; The Christian Science Monitor speculated ISI was responsible. A local Sons of Iraq spokesman said: "There are still some tr… See more

According to the United States Department of State, ISI operated in 2011 predominantly in Iraq but it also had carried out an attack in Jordan, and maintained a logistical network throughout the Middle East, Nort… See more

In a video released on April 7, 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the renaming of ISI as the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), signaling the group's expansion into Syria and its intention to forcibly abs… See more