The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) was an umbrella organization of a number Iraq insurgent groups established on October 15, 2006. The group is composed of and supported by a variety of insurgency groups, including:

• its predecessor, the Mujahideen Shura Council,
• Al-Qaeda,
• Jeish al-Fatiheen,
• Jund al-Sahaba,
• Katbiyan Ansar Al-Tawhid wal Sunnah,
• Jeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, and
• other clans whose population is of Sunni faith.

It aims to establish a caliphate in the Sunni dominated regions of Iraq.

2007

2007 claimed responsibility for an ambush at Al Taqa (Babil) in which one Iraqi soldier and 4 US soldiers were killed; 3 soldiers of the US unit were captured; 2007 claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a meeting of Al Anbar tribal leaders at Mansour Hotel, Baghdad, which killed 13, including 6 Sunni sheikhs and other prominent figures, in retaliation for the rape of a Sunni woman by Iraqi police;

2009

2009 claimed responsibility for Baghdad bombings that killed 155 people and injured at least 721 people;

2010

2010 claimed responsibility for a Baghdad bombings attack that killed 41 people;

2013

2013 executed attacks against Shi’a Muslim pilgrims in and around Baghdad; 2013 suicide car bomber attacked a procession of Shi’a Muslim worshippers at a bus station in the town of Musayyib in the central Babil Province south of Iraq, killing 27 people and wounding 60; February 2013 a series of suicide attacks against Shi’a areas of Baghdad and around the southern Iraqi city of Karbala killed 34 people and wounded over 100; February 2013 another series of coordinated suicide bombings killed over 35 people in the several Shi’a-majority districts of Baghdad. October 2013 Human Rights Watch accused the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, and two other Islamist factions of systematically killing at least 190 unarmed civilians and abducting over 200 on August 4 in a series of attacks along the western coastal province of Latakia in Syria. In March 2013 al-Nusra announced that its group had split in two following its leadership's public declaration of allegiance to al-Qaeda. They are said to have become disillusioned after their Syrian leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, affirmed his loyalty to al-Qaeda after an apparent takeover at the top of Jabhat by hardline jihadists from Iraq. Some of the defecting rebels seem to have joined ISI, which is more of a political group to overthrow the Syrian government than an ideological group like al Nusra that wants to establish a caliphate in Syria.

2014

IS gains in both Iraq and Syria as on 02 August 2014 are seen in the following map:

Map Notes: 02 August 2014: BBC News

Videos

Video: Islamic State of Iraq and Sham | Sheikh Osama bin Laden & Imam Anwar al Awlaki-Establishing Khilafah:

"Allah facilitated the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq on 13th October 2006 under the bold and courageous leadership of Sheikh Abu Umar al Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy on him).  And now we see the establishment of Islamic State of Iraq and Sham under the leadership of AbuBakr al Baghdadi, one of the most influential person of this era. The Establishment of Islamic State in Iraq and now in Sham (Syria) is the evident sign of the steadfastedness and determination of the Mujahideen from Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah to establish Tawheed of Allah on Land, that is Islamic Shariah on the methodology of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Sahaba, with the permission of Allah, The Establishment of Islamic State marks the Unity under one banner of Tawheed, Islamic State of Iraq and Sham about which Sheikh Osama bin Laden & Imam Anwar al Awlaki spoke and says Allah willing this is a sign of Establishment of Khilafah"

Video: 2013 Propaganda video.

Islamic State of Iraq and Sham Jihad Training - Islamic Army under Sheikh Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
Video: 2013 Islamic State of Iraq and Sham Jihad Training - Islamic Army under Sheikh Abu Bakr al Baghdadi || On Tuesday 14 Ramadan 1434 A.H,( 2013-07-23 ) Ministry of information / Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham, said the following as quoted :

"Statement regarding the Ghazwah of "Defeating the Tawagit" in the two prisons of Abu Ghraib and Taji : The Almighty says: (Those before them did indeed devise plans, but Allah demolished their building from the foundations, so the roof fell down on them from above them, and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive) 26 Surah An-Nahl

الحمد لله ربّ العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.. وبعد:

With grace, favor and guidance of Allah, and in a daring Ghazwah which Allah facilitated for it the reasons of success, and after a series of qualitative operations and Ghazwahs that shock the pillars of the Safavid project and demolished the depth of the Rafidi protectorates in Iraq during the past four months, to repel the aggression of those licentious criminals and deter them from committing more crimes after the massacre of Hawija in the Wilayah of Kirkuk.

An in response to the call of the mujahid sheikh Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi may Allah preserve him to end the blessed "Demolishing the walls" plan that began one year ago with a qualitative operation that defeats the apostate Tawagit and breaks the shackles and liberates the lions perching in the darkness of the prisons, the mujahidin brigades set out after preparation and planning for months targeting two from the biggest prisons of the Safavid government which inherited it from the crusader campaign on Iraq, Baghdad Central prison (Abu Ghraib) and Al-Hut prison (Taji).

The operation began at 9 pm on the 13th of the noble month of Ramadan when the youth of Tawhid attacked simultaneously the main gates and the exterior walls of the two prisons by waves of car bombs driven by a group of martyrdom seekers the Awliya of Allah who vowed their souls to support their brothers, and the number of the car bombs that were detonated in the beginning of the Ghazwah at the gates and walls of the two prisons and after ended against the support forces that reached both locations was 12 cars of different sizes.

While the roads leading to the two prisons, (Baghdad- Abu Ghraib) road and (Baghdad-Mosul) road were cut after eliminating the checkpoints spread on both roads and eradicating and dispersing its elements, this coincided with targeting the Safavid army forces near the two locations in the headquarters of the Muthana brigade and Taji camp by Grad rockets and successive bursts of mortar rounds, which secured the roads leading to both locations completely and paralyzed the movement of the ground aiding forces and aviation traffic, for the stage of storming to begin by the groups of assailant martyrdom seekers who pledged to die and all of them vowed that none of them will come out alive before liberating most of the Muslim prisoners.

The clashes continued with the guards of the prison and the protection forces inside it and on the surrounding towers for several hours, and Allah facilitated the matters to the brothers by controlling all the towers and killing and injuring those in it, and combing the building from the inside with the detachments that were liberated inside the prison which were previously armed with guns, pistols and explosive belts after penetrating the security system of both prisons earlier by the security effort of the Islamic State.

And in a few hours the shackles of captivity and humiliation were broken and the prisoners breathed the fragrance of pride and dignity, and we give glad tidings to the Ummah in general and the mujahidin in particular that hundreds of Muslim prisoners were liberated including more than 500 mujahid from the best sons of this land, who were hardened by wars, and refined by battles and the ordeal of imprisonment only increased their patience, steadfast and yearning for jihad for the sake of Allah and crushing His enemies, and they have been withdrawn and evacuated to secure locations which the enemy has to pass horrors and calamities to reach them which the coward Rafidah cannot endure.

During the operation more than 120 were killed and tens were injured from the Safavid forces assigned to protect the two prisons and the Special Support forces "SAWT" that reached both locations, also most of the towers and installations seized by the mujahidin were destroyed and the military vehicles that couldn't be pulled from the location were burnt, during the clashes several prisoners were martyred and several others were wounded, while no one from the assailant brothers were killed except two who were injured and both them were evacuated, and the grace and favor is to Allah."

ISIS attack on the Shia al-Sadiqoon political party
Video Notes: 25 April 2014: ISIS attack on the Shia al-Sadiqoon political party.