ISIS - A brief explanation

The Islamic State of Iraq is a militant Islamist group that aimes to establish an Islamic state in Sunni, Arab-majority areas of Iraq during the Iraq War. It was formed on 15 October 2006 from the merger of a number of Iraqi insurgent groups, including Al-Qaeda in Iraq and its Mujahideen Shura Council allies.

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.

In April 2013, ISI transformed itself into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is still active today.

When ISI was formed in October 2006, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi was presented as its leader or emir. The US government initially believed Omar al-Baghdadi to be a fictitious persona, invented to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of ISI which the US saw as a front organization of the foreign-driven Al Qaeda in Iraq. However, US military officials later came to believe that the Baghdadi 'role' had been taken by an actual ISI leader