“In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term ‘al-Sham’ refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area. The standard English term for this broad territory is ‘the Levant.'”
~ Associated Press
ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), is a Sunni jihadist group with a particularly violent ideology that calls itself a caliphate and claims religious authority over all Muslims. It was inspired by al Qaida but later publicly expelled from it. They are an extremist militant group that rules by Wahhabi/Salafi law. In Arabic, the group is also known as Daesh.
Members of the group have carried out more than 140 terrorist attacks in nearly three dozen countries, killing thousands people since the summer of 2014, according to published reports. Terrorists inspired by ISIS have carried out several deadly attacks in the United States.
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