The Islamic State's first year - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou

Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou

Jun 24, 2015

Militant Islamist fighters on a tank take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. Militant Islamist fighters held a parade in Syria's northern Raqqa province to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags — Militant Islamist fighters on a tank take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province, June 30, 2014. — REUTERS/Stringer

Türkçe

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video. There had previously been reports on social media that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would make his first public appearance since his Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) changed its name to the Islamic S

The many names of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Masked Sunni Muslim gunmen patrol in the city of Falluja, 70 km (44 miles) west of Baghdad, February 8, 2014. ISIL militants and other Sunni groups angered by the Shi'ite-led government overran Falluja and parts of the nearby city of Ramadi in the western province of Anbar on Jan. 1. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX18FGA

ISIS, al-Qaeda compete for supremacy in global jihad

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi

Children, who fled from the violence in Mosul, play during sunset inside the Khazer refugee camp on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, June 27, 2014. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, called on the country's leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES

The 'Caliphate Cubs' of IS

Mushreq Abbas

A municipality worker sweeps the ground at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad July 13, 2015. Car bombs and suicide attacks targeting mainly Shi'ite Muslim districts of Baghdad killed 35 people on Sunday, one of the heaviest recent tolls in the Iraqi capital, which has faced a wave of bombings by Islamic State militants. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily

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Terrorists turn month of peace into time for war

Brenda Stoter (Syria Pulse)

Brenda Stoter (Syria Pulse)