History of IGIL: date of foundation, form of government

The Islamist terrorist group Igil by many experts is considered the main threat to the world at present. This organization emerged as a separate cell of al-Qaeda, but then it became a completely independent force. Now it is the largest terrorist organization in the world. The history of IGIL will be the subject of our study.

Prehistory of the IGIL

First let's find out what is the origin of IGIL, what is the background of its formation. For this we will have to look into the 90s of the last century.

At the origins of the grouping, which later was transformed into IGIL, stood Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Born in 1966, in his youth, he fought against the Soviet army in Afghanistan. After returning to Jordan, he was engaged in activities directed against the existing regime in the country, for which he was subjected to seven-year imprisonment since 1992.

In 1999, immediately after his release, az-Zakravi created an Islamist Salafi organization that took the name "Monotheism and Jihad." The original purpose of this group was the overthrow of the royal dynasty in Jordan, which, according to az-Zakravi, conducted an anti-Islamic policy. It was this organization that formed the foundation on which the "state" of IGIL was formed in the future.

After the beginning of the American operation in Iraq in 2001, the representatives of the organization "Monotheism and Jihad" launched active activities on the territory of the country. It is believed that az-Zarqawi became at this time one of the organizers and another major grouping "Ansar al-Islam." It operated mainly in Iraqi Kurdistan and in the Sunni regions of Iraq. Formal leader is Faraj Akhmad Nazhmuddin, who is in a Norwegian prison and directs therefrom the activity of Ansar al-Islam. From 2003 to 2008, the group adopted the name "Jamaat Ansar as-Sunna", but then returned to its former name. After the intervention of the allied forces in Iraq in 2003, many of its fighters joined the ranks of the organization "Monotheism and Jihad." At present, Ansar al-Islam is one of the main allies of IGIL.

Union with Al Qaeda

It was after the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003 that the organization "Monotheism and Jihad" was firmly established in this country. She conducted a series of high-profile terrorist attacks, a public chip with public executions with a cutoff of heads. Later, this hereditary tradition, whose goal was intimidation, was adopted by the heir of the organization "Monotheism and Jihad" - the grouping of IGIL. "Monotheism and Jihad" became the main anti-government force in Iraq, whose goal was to overthrow the transitional government, destroy the supporters of Shiism and the formation of an Islamic state.

In 2004, al-Zarqawi swore allegiance to the leader of the world's largest Islamic extremist organization, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. Since that time, the group "Monotheism and Jihad" has come to be known as "Al Qaeda in Iraq." The history of IGIL has since made a new turn.

Increasingly, a group led by az-Zarqawi began to use terrorist methods not to the US military, but to Iraqi citizens, mainly to Shiites. This caused a decrease in the popularity of Al-Qaeda in Iraq among the local population. In order to return the ratings and consolidate the resistance forces to the coalition forces, in 2006 az-Zarqawi organized the "Mujahideen Meeting", which included, besides Al-Qaeda, seven other major Islamist Sunni groups.

But in June 2006, Az-Zarqawi was killed as a result of bombing by US aircraft. The new leader of the organization was Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

Islamic state in Iraq

After eliminating AZ-ZARKAVI, the history of IGIL changed its direction again. This time, there is a tendency to break with al-Qaeda.

In October 2006, the "Consultative Assembly of the Mujahideen" proclaimed the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq (IGI), and did it on its own, without waiting for consent from the leadership of Al-Qaeda. But until the final break with this terrorist organization it was still far away.

The capital of this "state" was proclaimed the Iraqi city of Baquba. His first emir was Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, whose past is known only for the fact that he is a citizen of Iraq and previously headed the "Consultative Assembly of Mujahideen." In 2010, he was killed in Tikrit after a missile strike by US-Iraqi forces. In the same year, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was also killed, who was also considered one of the leaders of the IGI.

A new Iraqi emir was Iraqi resident Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was previously detained in the US concentration camp on suspicion of extremism. The leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq is his compatriot Abu Suleiman al-Nasir. At the same time, he was appointed military adviser in the IGI, and in 2014 became head of the military council of the Islamic state.

Education of IGIL

The emergence of IGIL as an organization, as we see, dates back to the first decade of the 21st century, but this name itself appeared only in April 2013, when the IGI extended its activities to Syria, that is, to the countries of the Levant. Therefore, IGIL so deciphers - the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant. The name of this organization in the Arabic transliteration is AAAA. IGIL almost immediately, as it began active operations in Syria, began to attract more and more fighters from other Islamist groups. In addition, militants from the EU, the US, Russia and a number of other countries began to flock to this organization.

Syria is engulfed by civil war, which is being waged between the government troops of President Assad and a number of anti-government groups of various kinds. Therefore, the Syrian Igil easily managed to take control of the significant territory of the country. This organization was particularly successful in 2013-2014. The capital was transferred from Baacuba to the Syrian city of Er-Raqqa.

At the same time, the territory of IGIL reached its greatest expansion in Iraq. The group put under control almost the entire province of Anbar, as well as the important cities of Tikrit and Mosul during the uprising against the Shiite government of Iraq.

The final departure from al-Qaeda

Initially, the "state" IGIL tried to act in alliance with other insurgent forces in Syria against the Assad regime, but in January 2014 entered into an open armed conflict with the main opposition force - the Free Syrian Army.

In the meantime, there was a final rupture of IGIL with Al-Qaeda. The leadership of the latter demanded that the IG withdraw the militants from Syria and return to Iraq. The only representative of Al-Qaeda in Syria was to be represented only by the Front-Al-Nusra grouping. It was she who officially represented the international terrorist organization on the territory of the country. IGIL refused to comply with the requirements of the leadership of Al-Qaeda. As a consequence, in February 2014, Al-Qaeda claimed that it had nothing to do with IGIL, so it can not control this organization or be responsible for its actions.

Soon after that, fighting broke out between the militants of the Daish and the Front of An-Nusra.

The proclamation of the caliphate

The history of IGIL acquires quite a different scale after the proclamation of the caliphate. This happened in late June 2014. Thus, the organization began to claim not only the primacy in the region, but the primacy in the entire Islamic world, with the prospect of establishing a global caliphate. After that, it was simply called the "Islamic State" (IG) without specifying a specific region. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi took the title of Caliph.

The announcement of the caliphate, on the one hand, contributed to further strengthening the authority of the IG in the eyes of many Muslim radicals, which led to an increase in the flow of militants who want to join the group. But on the other hand, it caused an even greater confrontation with other Islamist organizations that did not want to put up with the IG's primacy.

Operation of the Allies against the IG

Meanwhile, the world community has become more aware of the danger posed by the Islamic state, because the territory of the IGIL has continued to increase.

Since mid-2014, the US has begun to provide direct military assistance to the government of Iraq to fight the IG. A little later, Turkey, Australia, France, Germany intervened in the conflict. They coordinated the bombing of the location of the IG militants throughout 2014-2015, both in Iraqi territory and in the Syrian state.

Since September 2015, at the request of the government of Syria, Russia began to take part in the struggle against the IG. Its aviation forces also began to strike at the location of the extremist grouping. However, it was not possible to reach agreements on coordinating actions between Russia and the coalition of Western countries, owing to a number of contradictions.

The military assistance of the international contingent contributed to the fact that the territory of IGIL in Iraq was significantly reduced. Also, the offensive of militants in Syria was suspended, they managed to repel a number of key positions from them. The head of the IG Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was seriously injured.

But it is too early to talk about the victory of the coalition over the Islamic state.

Distribution of IG

The main arena for the actions of the Islamic state is the territory of Iraq and Syria. But the organization extended its influence to other countries. IGIL directly controls some territories in Libya and Lebanon. In addition, in recent years, the group has begun to actively operate in Afghanistan, recruiting former Taliban supporters. Leaders of the Nigerian terrorist group Islamist "Boko Haram" swore allegiance to the Caliph of the Islamic state, and the territories that are controlled by this organization, began to be called the province of the IG. In addition, the IG has branches in Egypt, the Philippines, Yemen and many other state entities.

The leaders of the Islamic state pretend to control all the territories that were part of the Arab Caliphate and Ottoman Empire, whose heirs they consider themselves.

Organizational structure of the Islamic state

The Islamic state in form of government can be called a theocratic monarchy. The Caliph is the head of state. The body, which has an advisory function, is called Shura. Analogies of the ministries are the Intelligence Council, the military and legal council, the health service, etc. The organization consists of a multitude of cells in many countries of the world that have quite a strong autonomy in governance.

The territory for which the IG applies, is divided into 37 vilayats (administrative units).

Prospects

The Islamic state is a relatively young terrorist organization that spreads across the Earth at a very high rate. It aspires to rule not only in the Middle East region, but throughout the Muslim world. An increasing number of radical people are joining its ranks. The methods of conducting the struggle of the IG are extremely cruel.

Stop the further advancement of this organization can only concerted and timely actions of the international community.