JSFF-Islamic State, also known as ISIS is a radical Islamist group which annexed much territory in eastern Syria and Iraq to the north and west.
Brutal strategy, including mass killings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic groups, as well as beheadings of soldiers and journalists, sparking fears and anger at the world and the US military intervention.
What ISIS want?
The group wants to establish a 'caliphate', a state dominated the religious and political leader according to Islamic law, or sharia. Although currently limited in Iraq and Syria, ISIS determined to 'break through the border' Jordan and Lebanon and 'liberate' Palestine.
They get support from Muslims in the world to declare loyalty to its leader, Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai or Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The origin of ISIS
ISIS is the forerunner of the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who founded the Tawhid wa al-Jihad in 2002. A year after the invasion of Iraq led by the United States, Zarqawi expressed support to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Iraq formed (AQI).
Tactics Zarqawi Al-Qaeda leader is seen as too extreme. In 2006, AQI established organization Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), which then weakened because of increased US forces and the establishment of a council Rise by Sunni Arab tribes who reject brutality.
After becoming leader in 2010, Baghdadi rebuilt ISIS. They were joined in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, founded the al-Nusra Front.
April 2013, Baghdadi announced the merger of its teams in Iraq and Syria and the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). June 2014, ISIS control Mosul city, and advanced south towards Baghdad.
At the end of June, having seized control of several towns, ISIS said the establishment of the caliphate and changed its name to the Islamic State (Daulah Islamiyah).
Controlled areas
Some estimates suggest that ISIS and its allies dominate the 40,000 km2 of the territory of Iraq and Syria, about the size of Belgium.The cities they control such as Mosul, Tikrit, Falluja and Tal Afar in Iraq; Raqqa in Syria.
They control the oil fields, dams, major roads and border crossings.Eight million people are estimated to be under the rule of fully or partially ISIS.
How many militia?
US officials estimate about 15,000 active militia. Iraqi observers, Hisham al-Hashimi said at the beginning of August there are approximately 30,000-50,000 people.
What weapons ISIS?
Militia have access to or be able to use different types of small guns and heavy weapons, including machine guns on trucks, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft weapons systems and surface-to-air missile. They also seized tanks and armored vehicles Syrian and Iraqi military.
Where ISIS funded?
ISIS reported to have 2 billion dollars in cash and assets. Initially obtained financial support from a number of people in the Arab Gulf states.
Now ISIS is an organization that finance themselves, with the inclusion of millions of dollars per month from oil and gas fields, in addition to taxes, tolls, smuggling, extortion and kidnapping.
Why so brutal?
ISIS is a member of the Sunni militant interpretation of Islam in the extreme. They claim that the brutal action policies are verses of the Koran.