On Sunday 27 October, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, was confirmed dead following a US raid, the video of which was later widely shared. This has, understandably, led to much celebration within political circles (including the usual selfcongratulation from Trump), and, worryingly, some feting this as the true end of ISIS as a […]
News of the Syrian conflict rears its head in the media again following Trump’s reckless withdrawal of troops and Turkey’s attack on the Kurds. It might seem to be easy for us in the UK to think that this is something no longer relevant to us. ISIS has been almost completely defeated, despite the recent […]
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) used to be known by a different name: al Qaeda in Iraq. Although US troops and allied Sunni militants defeated al Qaeda in Iraq during the post-2006 “surge” – they were not destroyed. They were a relatively minor force confined to fighting British and US troops […]
Carving out a caliphate costs money. Through extortion, finance, and the spoils of war has the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, been able to afford its military and political dominion in northern Iraq and parts of Syria. The vast revenues ISIS has managed to accrue mean it is perhaps the best-funded terrorist organisation […]