The militants of the "Islamic state". The Islamist terrorist organization

To date, the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world is the grouping "Islamic State" (IG). Every day the number of its supporters is growing, and the size of the territories controlled by it is increasing. Let's look into the causes of this phenomenon and find out the potential danger that the insurgents of the "Islamic state" are borne by the world.

Origination of an organization

After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, this country has become one of the main centers of Islamic extremism. Many Muslim terrorist organizations, mainly of the Sunni type, began to operate on its territory, proclaiming their goal to fight against the United States, Shiites and Israel. One of the strongest groups was Ansar al-Islam, led by al-Zarqawi, who later recognized as part of Al Qaeda.

IG history has been counted down since 2006, when the formation of the "Islamic State of Iraq" was announced on the basis of the unification of part of the Iraqi cell of Al-Qaeda and some other Muslim extremist groups. The center of this association was recognized by the city of Mosul, and the first leader was Abu Abdullah al-Baghdadi. Since the first days of its existence, the organization has been actively involved in military operations and terrorist activities in Iraq. Since mid-May 2010, after the death of the predecessor, the head of the group was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi with the title of emir.

Coming to Syria

In the meantime, after the beginning of the civil war in Syria between President Assad and fighters against his regime in 2011, among which were Islamic militants, this country also became a hotbed of instability in the region. Various extremist forces began to flock here.

The group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi did not remain aloof. In connection with the arrival in Syria, it adopted a new name from the beginning of April 2013: "The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant". This provoked outrage among the leaders of Al-Qaeda, in particular, the successor of Usama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri. After all, this group was previously considered to be controlled by Al-Qaeda organization, and in Syria already operated its other cell - "Front an Nusra."

Meanwhile, IGIL took control of a significant part of Syria. By mid-2014, under his authority was a large area of Syrian territory than any other side of the conflict, including the government of Assad.

The final break with Al Qaeda

After al-Baghdadi refused to heed the call of al-Zawahri to return his militants to Iraq, in February 2014 the leadership of Al-Qaeda announced a complete break with IGIL and that this structure is not its subdivision. Moreover, hostilities began between IGIL and the official cell of al-Qaeda, the Front-Al-Nusra organization. During the conflict between them, about 1800 militants perished on both sides.

However, with the beginning of the use of air strikes by the Western coalition, the militant positions between IGIL and the "Front of An-Nusra" included an agreement on joint actions.

The proclamation of the caliphate

After successful military operations in the first half of 2014, the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured significant territories in Syria and Iraq, as well as a number of major cities, including Mosul and Tikrit, coming close to Baghdad. In the wake of such successes, their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in mid-2014 proclaimed himself caliph.

This was a landmark event, because the title of the Caliph meant a claim to supremacy over the entire Muslim world. The last, who wore this title, was a representative of the Osman dynasty Abdul-Majid II, who was deprived of him in 1924. Thus, al-Baghdadi claimed the succession from the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and, accordingly, to the territory once controlled by it. At the same time, he supported the idea of creating a world caliphate.

In this connection, it was decided to remove the regional link in the name of the organization, and now it became known as: "Islamic State".

Air strikes of the coalition on the militants IG

Seeing the danger posed to the world by the militants of the Islamic State, a number of Western countries, including the US, Australia, Britain and France, decided to take joint action against the terrorist threat. Since June 2014, these powers have made air strikes on the positions of extremists in the territory of Syria and Iraq. During the bombing, the Caliph al-Baghdadi was fatally wounded, who died in March 2015. According to another version, he did not die, but only paralyzed. His successor was Abu Ala Al-Afri, who was also killed on May 13, 2015.

The defeat of the Kurds

The "Islamic State" group suffered the worst, as it is believed, defeat in its history in the battles with the Kurds for the city of Koban, which occurred from the beginning of the autumn of 2014 to January 2015. Despite the fact that the militants managed to temporarily capture this city, they were later knocked out of it. From February 2015 until now, there are battles for the surrounding villages.

But despite a number of failures and the death of their leaders, Islamic state militants continue to control significant territories, and at the moment are a threat not only for the region, but for the whole world.

Dissemination of the "Islamic State" to other regions

Although the "Islamic state" was not recognized by any country in the world, after the proclamation of the caliphate and the significant military successes of this organization, various Islamic terrorist groups around the globe joined it, declaring themselves provinces of the "Caliphate".

First of all, IG fighters were able to gain a foothold in Libya. Back in April 2014, they captured the cities of Dern and Nophalia, and at the moment they besieged Sirte. Thus, in the North Africa the "Islamic state" began to be strengthened. Libya after the overthrow of Gaddafi is torn apart by a civil war between the General Congress of the National and the Parliament. The IG still controls relatively small territories there, waiting for the development of hostilities between the main forces of confrontation.

One of the first to join the IG "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan", led by its leader Usmon Ghazi. This organization currently operates mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Back in 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan informed the public about this.

At the same time, the Egyptian Islamist group Ansar Beit al-MacDis said about joining the "Islamic state".

After the Shiite coup in Yemen and the civil war there, the al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) late in the winter of 2015 announced that it was breaking ties with its parent organization and swearing al-Baghdadi's "caliph". At the moment, ACAP controls significant territories in Yemen.

In the early spring of 2015, the extremist organization Boca Haram, which subjugated the land in northern Nigeria and waged a real war with a coalition of states, declared itself the "West African province of the Islamic State".

In addition, Islamic state militants have designated their presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some Taliban groups went over to the side of the IG. With other Taliban militants, the "Islamic state" began a confrontation.

Thus, the question of where the Islamic state is located will not have a one-syllabic answer, since its various branches are scattered all over the world.

Ideology

The "Islamic state" has moved away from the narrow ideology of Sufism and Wahhabism, which plays a leading role in al-Qaeda. By this, it was able to win over more supporters, which is natural, because for most of the population of Syria and Iraq, Sufism and Wahhabism are alien. Leaders IG skillfully played on this, declaring themselves caliphs of all Sunnis.

But much of the extremists of the "Islamic state" are not local residents, but representatives of other Arab countries. There are also a lot of volunteers from Europe and Russia, in particular fighters who fought for Ichkeria.

The actions of terrorists of the "Islamic state" in relation to the opponents and the local population are extremely cruel. Torture and demonstrative executions are often practiced.

Objectives of the "Islamic State"

The leaders of the Islamic state declared declaratively that their main global goal is to establish a global caliphate. But at the same time, militants also talk about tasks for the nearer future. These include the seizure of territory formerly owned by the Ottoman Empire, the Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Extremists have already stated that they are working on the creation of nuclear weapons.

Countries around the world should unite in the fight against terrorism, the IG, because where the "Islamic state" is located, war and death come.