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Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World

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While the level of violence may have gone down after ten years of destruction, can one say that Assad has changed his method of ruling? Has Syria's experience altered his views about the essence of politics?

To answer those questions, we must recall what happened at the beginning of the Arab uprisings. In early 2011, even after massive social mobilisation had overthrown two longstanding strongmen in the space of a few weeks, Assad stated that those events had no relevance for Syria. He told the Wall Street Journal that "Syria was stable". Referring to what had happened in Tunisia and Egypt, the president remarked that his country was "outside of this".

A few weeks later, Assad was facing an uprising of his own, revealing how out of touch with reality he had been. A decade on, it is still legitimate to ask why the Syrian dictator overlooked the harbingers of his own vulnerability. Three mechanisms explain this disconnect.
The implied loyalty of silence?
The first was that the Assad family was myopic about the fact that excessive control reduced its exposure to the true workings of Syrian society, hindering its foresight. Politics is a dynamic process that involves expression, negotiation, and conflict. By 2011, the Assad regime had imposed a tight and elaborate system of control for over four decades, with tentacles throughout society.

In having tightened its grip on power structures, security agencies, political parties, and public space, the regime had placed nearly all visible aspects of politics under its stringent authority.

The problem with this is that the Assads failed to realise that by placing politics in a strait jacket, they pushed it into murkier recesses, so that political opinion and contestation shifted from party politics, parliamentary debates, and media outlets into private conversations and subtle forms of dissent. Small facts speak to large issues - "winks to epistemology or sheep raids to revolution". as the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz once wrote. Under the Assads, ellipses of speech, allegorical phrases, nods of desperation, exhalations of anger, or even silence, spoke volumes about what was rankling the population.

From his palace overlooking Damascus, Bashar al-Assad saw a different picture. Silence implied loyalty, self-censorship consent. The uprising in March 2011 showed how deeply he had misread reality.
Popular support merely feigned
A second mechanism also explains why Assad failed to grasp the mood in his country. Not only had Syrians concealed their true preferences in response to political pressures, they also feigned many of their reactions and support for the regime. Economist Timur Kuran has called this "preference falsification". Privately, this may mean faking a smile or compliment in a social gathering. Under authoritarian regimes, however, the practice is more consequential.

It is telling that for both those who supported the Assads and their critics, fear was the Syrian regime's trademark. While critics called it a "republic of fear", the regime was fond of upholding the notion of "the prestige of the state", or haybat al-dawla, albeit blended with awe and dread. Between 1970 and 2011, the politics of terror had been institutionalised in Syria. As a consequence, people acquired a knack for survival. They would bend with the wind, withdraw into their shells, go into mental exile, or simulate devotion.

An astute poet from the early Islamic era, Abu al-Atahiya, stated it well: "If life narrows on you, silence is wider." And so a spiral of silence pervaded Syria before 2011. Yet, silence is more often a mark of patience than a sign of fidelity. Nor, because it represents a burden for individuals, does it last eternally.

Rather than reading between the lines of silence, the Assad regime had been busy constructing a personality cult around its leader and craving eternal rule: "Assad forever" or "Al-Assad ila al-abad" was a favourite slogan. However, it took no great insight to see that sycophancy had bred arrogance.
Years closeted in an ivory tower
Thirdly, time widens the disparity between reality and fantasy. The Assad regime suffered from its longevity, so that time had effectively encaged it. Often, the longer an autocrat stays in power, the greater his propensity to rely on a small coterie of confidants who share his opinions and delusions. The leader's inner sanctum limits his exposure, so that reality becomes "like a night in which all cows are black," as the German philosopher Hegel put it.

By early 2011, the Assads, Hafez and Bashar, had spent 40 years in an ivory tower. A former advisor to Bashar observed that the president "lives in a cocoon". In fact, Bashar was probably never fully aware of the inner workings of his own state organs, particularly the unbridled security agencies. Becoming a family heirloom had turned Syria into a compartmentalised dictatorship in which personal fiefdoms had proliferated and public institutions had been emptied of all relevance.

The Syrian uprising took the dictator by surprise, stripped him of his aura, and demonstrated that politics could not be eliminated or buried forever. If the Assad regime repeats its mistakes after the uprising's conclusion, then the dark events of the past decade will surely reappear again.
Nael Shama

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Syria 10 years on: Bashar al-Assad's Pyrrhic victory and the arrogance of power - Qantara.de

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Syria's president appears to have triumphed. He remains in power, the Syrian conflict is nearly over, and efforts are underway in the Arab world to normalise relations with his regime. Yet why was Bashar al-Assad so unprepared for the uprising, and has he learned anything since? Commentary by Nael Shama

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Refugee Crisis

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https://padlet.com/saadanurhusein/hl1ynvnws9ekqlps

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The Islamic State - also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh - emerged from the remnants of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a local offshoot of al Qaeda founded by Abu Musab al Zarqawi in 2004. It faded into obscurity for several years after the surge of U.S. troops to Iraq in 2007. But it began to reemerge in 2011. Over the next few years, it took advantage of growing instability in Iraq and Syria to carry out attacks and bolster its ranks.

The group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2013. ISIS launched an offensive on Mosul and Tikrit in June 2014. On June 29, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi announced the formation of a caliphate stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq, and renamed the group the Islamic State.

A U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq on August 7, 2014, and expanded the campaign to Syria the following month. On October 15, the United States named the campaign "Operation Inherent Resolve." Over the next year, the United States conducted more than 8,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. ISIS suffered key losses along Syria's border with Turkey, and by the end of 2015, Iraqi forces had made progress in recapturing Ramadi. But in Syria, ISIS made gains near Aleppo, and still firmly held Raqqa and other strongholds.

In 2015, ISIS expanded into a network of affiliates in at least eight other countries. Its branches, supporters, and affiliates increasingly carried out attacks beyond the borders of its so-called caliphate. In October, ISIS's Egypt affiliate bombed a Russian airplane, killing 224 people. On November 13, 130 people were killed and more than 300 injured in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris. And in June 2016, a gunman who pledged support to ISIS killed at least four dozen people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

By December 2017, the ISIS caliphate had lost 95 percent of its territory, including its two biggest properties, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, its nominal capital. The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State in Iraq on December 9, 2017. But ISIS was still inspiring and carrying out attacks all over the world, including New York City.

In 2018, the focus of the campaign against ISIS shifted to eastern Syria, where a U.S.-backed coalition of Syrian Kurds and Arabs known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gradually captured key ISIS positions. The SDF briefly suspended its offensive in November 2018 after Turkish attacks on Kurdish positions diverted its attention. On December 14, the SDF captured the town of Hajin. Hajin's fall reduced ISIS territory to a few villages along the Euphrates River near the Iraqi border.

On December 19, 2018, President Donald Trump declared that ISIS was defeated and signaled his intention to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops supporting the SDF in Syria. But the SDF continued its offensive and in February 2019 launched the final siege on ISIS forces in Baghouz, the last holdout. Baghouz fell on March 23, 2019, formally ending the caliphate's claim to any territory. The mass surrender of ISIS fighters and their families illustrated the lingering challenge: how to deal with jihadists to forestall its transformation into an insurgency in Iraq and Syria. The Baghdadi era of ISIS ended on October 26, 2019, when the leader was killed in a U.S. raid in northern Syria. The following is a timeline of the rise, spread and fall of the Islamic State.

2004-2012

2004: Abu Musab al Zarqawi establishes al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).

June 7, 2006: Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. Abu Ayyub al Masri takes his place.

Oct. 15, 2006: al Masri announces the establishment of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI), with Abu Omar al Baghdadi as its leader.

2007: Following the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq, ISI is driven from Baghdad into Diyala, Salahideen, and Mosul. The organization retains only a fraction of its leaders, cells, and capabilities, which are concentrated in Mosul.

2008: ISI membership is strongly diminished. By early 2008, 2,400 ISI members had been killed and 8,800 were captured, out of a previous membership of 15,000. The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq decreases from 120 per month to five or six per month by 2009.

2009: Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki targets Sunni leaders, increasing sectarian tensions. Support for ISI begins to increase in Sunni tribal areas, and ISI claims responsibility for suicide attacks that killed hundreds in Baghdad.

April 2010: Abu Bakr al Baghdadi becomes the leader of ISI after a joint U.S.-Iraqi operations kills Abu Omar al Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al Masri.

July 2011: Abu Bakr al Baghdadi sends operatives to Syria. One of them, Abu Muhammad al Julani, becomes the leader of the Nusra Front in January 2012.

July 2012-July 2013: ISI launches its "Breaking the Walls" campaign. It carries out 24 bombings and eight prison breaks, freeing jihadists who had participated in AQI attacks in 2006 and 2007.

2013

March 4: Raqqa falls to the Syrian opposition, and secular opposition groups, the Nusra Front, and ISI are all operating in Raqqa. ISI begins moving military assets to consolidate control and break into new battle fronts in Syria.

April 11: Baghdadi moves from Iraq to Syria, and claims that the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) merged with the Nusra Front in Syria to become "The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria." But Julani rejects the alliance and declares allegiance to al Qaeda.

July 21: ISIS launches the "Soldier's Harvest" campaign to diminish Iraqi security forces and capture territory.

August: ISIS begins attacking rebel groups including Liwa al Tawhid, Ahrar al Sham, and the Nusra Front in Raqqa and Aleppo.

Dec. 30: ISIS militants in Iraq take control of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi.

2014

January: ISIS takes over Raqqa and declares it the capital of the ISIS emirate.

Feb. 3: Al Qaeda officially cuts ties with ISIS.

June 10: ISIS takes over Mosul, launching its largest offensive to date. Militants kill at least 600 Shiite inmates from the Badoush prison during the attack.

June 11: ISIS militants take over Tikrit.

June 12: Iran deploys forces to fight ISIS in Iraq, and helps Iraqi troops regain control of most of Tikrit.

June 18: Iraq asks the United States to conduct airstrikes against ISIS.

July 17: ISIS storms the Shaer gas field and kills 270 people.

June 21: ISIS seizes the strategic border crossing between Syria's Deir Ezzor province and Iraq, as well as three other Iraqi towns.

June 29: ISIS announces the establishment of a caliphate and rebrands itself as the "Islamic State."

Aug. 2-3: ISIS conquers Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar, forcing thousands of Yazidi civilians to flee their homes.

Aug. 3: ISIS takes control of the Mosul Dam.

Aug. 7: President Obama announces the beginning of air strikes against ISIS in Iraq to defend Yazidi citizens stranded in Sinjar.

Aug. 19: ISIS kills American journalist James Foley.

Aug. 24: ISIS militants seize Taqba airbase in Raqqa, Syria. ISIS now controls the entire Raqqa province.

Sept. 2: ISIS releases a video depicting beheading of journalist Steven Sotloff.

Sept. 13: ISIS posts video of the execution of British aid worker David Haines.

Sept. 19-22: ISIS advances on the Syrian border town of Kobani and thousands of refugees flee into Turkey.

Sept. 22: ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani calls for attacks on citizens of the United States, France and other countries involved in the coalition to destroy the group.

Sept. 23: The United States launches its first air strikes against ISIS in Syria.

Sept. 24: Militants aligned with ISIS behead a French tourist, Hervé Gourdel, in Algeria.

Sept. 27: The United States begins air strikes on Kobani.

Oct. 3: Majlis Shura Shabab al Islam, or the Islamic Youth Shura Council, claims the Libyan city of Derna for ISIS.

Oct. 7-8: The United States significantly ramps up airstrikes in and around Kobani to counter ISIS advances.

Oct. 15: The Pentagon names the campaign against ISIS "Operation Inherent Resolve."

Dec. 16: A gunman allegedly acting on ISIS's behalf seizes 17 hostages in a cafe in Sydney, Australia.

Dec. 30: ISIS takes responsibility for a suicide attack during a funeral north of Baghdad that killed 16 people and wounded 34 others.

2015

Jan. 7: Two gunmen, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, attack the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, killing 11 people. A third assailant, Amedy Coulibaly, carried out a synchronized attack on a kosher supermarket, taking hostages and killing four people. Coulibaly reportedly declared allegiance to the Islamic State.

Jan. 28: Militants allied with ISIS claim responsibility for an armed assault on a luxury hotel in the Tripoli, Libya that killed at least eight people.

Feb. 4: ISIS releases a video of Jordanian military pilot Moaz al Kasasbeh being burned alive.

March 18: ISIS claims responsibility for an attack on the Bardo museum in Tunis, which killed 22 people.

March 20: ISIS-linked militants bomb two mosques in Sanaa, Yemen, killing 137 people.

April 5: ISIS militants seize the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus where more than 18,000 people reside.

April 8: ISIS releases more than 200 captive Yazidis, most of whom had been held captive in northwestern Iraq since mid-2014.

April 19: ISIS posts a video showing militants from its Libyan branch executing dozens of Ethiopian Christians.

May 17: ISIS take overs Ramadi, Iraq.

May 20: ISIS seizes the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.

May 21: ISIS militants take full control of Sirte, Libya - Muammar Qaddafi's hometown.

May 22: ISIS claims responsibility for the suicide attacks on a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, which killed 21 people and injured more than 100.

May 29: ISIS claims responsibility for a second suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia that killed 4 people.

June 17: ISIS's Yemeni branch claims responsibility for a series of car bombings in the Yemeni capital that killed at least 30 people.

June 17: Kurdish fighters expel ISIS from the strategic Syrian town of Tal Abyad on the Turkish border.

June 22: Kurdish forces take full control of Ain Issa, a military base, from ISIS militias.

June 27: ISIS claims responsibility an attack on a Tunisian resort in Sousse, where 38 people were killed and 39 were wounded - most of them foreigners.

July 1: ISIS fighters carry out simultaneous assaults on military checkpoints in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, killing dozens of soldiers.

July 20: A suicide bomber with links to ISIS strikes a cultural center in Suruç - a Turkish border town near Kobani - killing at least 30 people.

Aug. 6: ISIS claims responsibility for a suicide bombing on a Saudi Arabian mosque that killed at least 15 people, including 12 members of Saudi police force, in Asir province, near the south-western border with Yemen.

Aug. 12: ISIS releases 22 Assyrian Christians of the dozens abducted from villages in northeastern Syria earlier in 2015.

Sept. 3: ISIS's Yemeni affiliate kills 20 people in two bombings in Sanaa.

Sept. 24: ISIS claims responsibility for two bombings at a Yemeni mosque run by the Houthis - a Shiite rebel group that seized Sanaa in September 2014. The attack killed at least 25 people.

Sept. 30: Russia begins airstrikes in Syria. It claims to target ISIS, but U.S. officials allege that many of the strikes target civilians and Western-backed rebel groups.

Oct. 6: ISIS kills at least 25 people in a series of car bombings in Yemen's two largest cities, Aden and Sanaa.

Oct. 9: ISIS makes significant gains in northwestern Syria, seizing six villages near Aleppo.

Oct. 10-12: Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, blames ISIS for the attack at a peace rally in Ankara that left at least 95 people dead.

Oct. 15: Iraqi forces recapture the Baiji refinery, the largest oil refinery in the country, from ISIS.

Oct. 16: ISIS-linked militants from Bahrain claim responsibility for killing five Shiite worshipers in the eastern Saudi city of Saihat.

Oct. 31: Sinai Province, Egypt's ISIS affiliate, claims responsibility for bombing a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 on board.

Nov. 12: ISIS claims responsibility for suicide attacks in Beirut that killed 40 people.

Nov. 13: Kurdish forces seize Sinjar, Iraq from ISIS.

Nov. 13: ISIS carries out a series of coordinated attacks in Paris, killing 130 people.

Nov. 15: France ramps up its airstrikes on ISIS targets in Raqqa, Syria.

Dec. 1: Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announces that U.S. special operations forces would be sent to Iraq to support Iraqi and Kurdish fighters and launch targeted operations in Syria.

Dec. 2: A married couple allegedly inspired by ISIS kills 14 people in San Bernardino, California.

Dec. 10: U.S. officials announce that airstrikes killed ISIS finance minister Abu Saleh and two other senior leaders in Tal Afar, Iraq.

Dec. 27: Iraqi military forces seize Ramadi from ISIS.

2016

Jan. 12: A suicide bomber with links to ISIS kills 10 people and injured 15 others - many of them German tourists - in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square.

Jan. 14: ISIS claims responsibility for an attack in Jakarta, Indonesia, that killed at least two people and injured 19 others.

March 18: Salah Abdeslam, the most wanted suspect in the Paris attacks, is arrested in Brussels.

March 19: A suicide bomber kills five people and injures dozens of others in Istanbul. The Turkish Interior Ministry announces that the perpetrator had links to ISIS.

March 22: Three explosions at the Zaventem airport and a metro station in Brussels kill at least 30 people and injure dozens of others. ISIS claims responsibility for the attacks.

April 11: Iraqi forces seize the town of Hit, which had been under ISIS control since October 2014. The same day, ISIS recaptured Rai, a Syrian town on the Turkish border, from the Free Syrian Army.

May 5: ISIS captures the Shaer gas field near Palmyra.

May 12: ISIS claims responsibility for a series of bombings in Baghdad on May 11 that killed more than 100 people.

May 19: Iraqi forces retake the western town of Rutbah.

May 23: Iraqi forces, aided by U.S. and coalition airstrikes, advance on Fallujah, which ISIS has held since 2014.

May 24: Kurdish forces backed by U.S. airstrikes launch an offensive on territory north of Raqqa, Syria.

June 12: A gunman attacks a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing more than four dozen people and injuring at least 53. The attacker, identified as Omar Mateen, reportedly called police during the attack and pledged allegiance to ISIS, who later claimed responsibility for the attack.

June 26: The Iraqi army retakes Fallujah from ISIS.

June 27: ISIS claims responsibility for a suicide car bombing in Mukalla, Yemen that killed at least 42 people.

June 28: Three suicide bombers kill at least 40 people at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. The Turkish government suspected that ISIS was behind the attack.

July 1: ISIS militants kill more than 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh, most of whom were foreigners.

July 3: ISIS militants carry out a suicide bombing that kills more than 200 people on a busy shopping street in Baghdad. The attack, which occurred during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, was ISIS's deadliest bomb attack on civilians to date.

July 4: Suicide bombers attack three locations in Saudi Arabia, including the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, a Shiite mosque in Qatif, and near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. The attack in Medina killed at least four people and injured five others. The attackers were suspected of having links to ISIS.

July 14: A 31-year-old Tunisian man drives a truck through a crowd in Nice, France, and kills 84 people. ISIS claims credit for the attack, though it is not clear whether the attacker had any formal ties to the group.

July 18: An Afghan teenager carries an axe onto a German commuter train and injures at least five people. He was reportedly inspired by ISIS.

July 19: U.S.-backed rebels in Syria capture an ISIS base in Manbij, according to the U.S. military.

Moroccan authorities arrest 52 people with suspected links to ISIS.

July 20: Tunisia's government announces that it dismantled an ISIS cell that had planned attacks in Sousse.

July 31: In a nine-minute YouTube video, the Islamic State urges its members to carry out attacks in Russia. "Listen Putin, we will come to Russia and will kill you at your homes ... Oh Brothers, carry out jihad and kill and fight them," says one masked man.

Aug. 4: Egypt's military says it has killed the leader of the Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, Abu Duaa al Ansari.

Aug. 7: ISIS suicide bombers attack a U.S.-backed Syrian rebel base near the Syria-Iraq al Tanf border crossing. Several people are killed.

Aug. 12: U.S.-backed forces in Syria take full control of the northern town Manbij from the Islamic State.

Aug. 16: Libyan forces seize one of the last districts in central Sirte from the Islamic State in their battle to recapture the entire city.

Aug. 18: ISIS carries out suicide bombings against Libyan forces in Sirte killing at least 12 fighters and wounding around 60.

Aug. 21: Libyan forces say they have seized the main mosque and jail from ISIS in Sirte. At least nine fighters die and 85 are injured from the battle.

Aug. 24: Senior security sources say that Algerian forces have cleared out ISIS-affiliated militants from the mountains east of the capital Algiers.

Aug. 29: Libyan forces capture a residential neighborhood from ISIS in central Sirte, leaving only one district to be recovered.

ISIS claims responsibility for a suicide attack on army recruits in Aden, Yemen, that killed 54.

Aug. 30: ISIS says its spokesman and one of its longest-serving leaders, Abu Muhammad al Adnani, was killed in a U.S. airstrike while traveling in Syria near al Bab.

Sept. 9: French officials say three French women were arrested for planning to attack the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, under the Islamic State's direction, after finding a car filled with gas cylinders parked outside of Notre Dame cathedral.

Two suicide bombers attack the Nakheel Mall in eastern Baghdad, killing 12 people and injuring more than 40. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the two bombings.

Sept. 11: Three robed women attack a police station in Mombasa, Kenya, stabbing an officer and setting the building on fire. The Islamic State claims responsibility on its Amaq News Agency.

Sept. 17-18: A man stabs nine people at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota before being shot and killed. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Sept. 26: Islamic State militants kill five civilians and dump their bodies in a corner of the Sinai Peninsula for allegedly collaborating with the Egyptian army.

Sept. 28: The Iraqi oil ministry says the Islamic State no longer controls any oil wells in Iraq.

Oct. 2: Libyan forces repel an attempted ambush by ISIS militants in their former stronghold of Sirte. Libyan forces lose at least eight men in the attack.

Oct. 10: A new report by terrorism researchers at West Point says ISIS media output has dropped drastically, from 700 items from official outlets in August 2015 to under 200 in August 2016.

Oct. 12: Libyan forces push into last Islamic State area in Sirte.

Oct. 14: Islamist militants kill 12 Egyptian soldiers and wound six more in an attack on a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Oct. 16: Iraq launches a U.S.-backed campaign to liberate Mosul from the Islamic State.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels retake the town Dabiq from the Islamic State. Dabiq held symbolic importance for ISIS, as the group claimed it would be the site of the final apocalyptic battle and victory of the caliphate.

Libyan forces recapture Sirte's Cambo district from the Islamic State.

Oct. 15-Oct. 17: The U.S. conducts more than 30 airstrikes against ISIS in Sirte, backing pro-government forces in the battle to push into the ISIS's last stronghold.

Oct. 22: Iraqi forces retake Qaraqosh, a Christian area southeast of Mosul, which had been under ISIS rule since 2014.

Oct. 24: Suicide bombers attack sleeping police cadets at a training academy in Pakistan, killing 61 and injuring 117 more. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack, but Pakistani authorities suspect the militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) was actually behind the attack.

Oct. 25: The Islamic State takes control of half of the western Iraqi town of Rutba, located near the Syrian and Jordanian borders.

Tunisian police arrest two American citizens for suspected terrorist activities after finding videos and pictures praising ISIS.

Oct. 28: The U.N. says ISIS fighters are using tens of thousands of men, women and children as human shields in Mosul to prevent Iraqi troops from advancing.

Nov. 1: The Iraqi Counterterrorism Service captures the Mosul state television station from the Islamic State. This is the first building taken from ISIS since the Mosul campaign began.

Nov. 3: ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi releases his first statement in almost a year, addressing "soldiers of the Islamic State," specifically citing Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and other countries where ISIS has established affiliates and provinces.

Baghdadi refers to them as the "pillars of the caliphate," stressing that they are essential for the Islamic State's survival now more than ever.

Nov. 4: The Islamic State claims responsibility on its Amaq News Agency for a car bomb in southeastern Turkey that killed eight people and injured more than 100 others.

Nov. 6: U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces start a new operation to isolate and ultimately retake Raqqa from the Islamic State.

Libyan forces free 14 civilians from a small residential area where the Islamic State is holding out in Sirte.

Kosovo says it detained seven Islamic State suspects the previous week for planning attacks in the Balkans. The suspects were reportedly receiving instructions from ISIS militants in Syria.

Nov. 7: The Pentagon says it is ready to resume airstrikes against the Islamic State militants in Sirte if requested by the GNA.

Nov. 11: The U.N. human rights office says ISIS fighters are reportedly stockpiling dangerous chemicals in Mosul and have executed many more people in the city.

Nov. 12: A bomb blast at Shah Noorani Shrine in Baluchistan province, Pakistan, kills over 50 people and injures more than 100. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Nov. 14: A Kurdish and Yazidi armed force says it has removed ISIS fighters from five Yazidi towns west of Mosul.

Nov. 15: An Iraqi interior ministry spokesman says Iraqi forces have removed the Islamic State from one third of eastern Mosul.

Nov. 19: ISIS fighters kill seven Sunni tribal fighters and five police officers in an attack south of Mosul.

Nov. 21: An attack on the Shiite Baqir ul Olum mosque in Kabul leaves more than 30 people dead and dozens injured. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Nov. 24: Libyan forces capture 25 houses and a stash of arms as they resume their advance against Islamic State militants in their former stronghold of Sirte.

Nov. 25: The Islamic State claims responsibility for an attack on an Egyptian military checkpoint in northern Sinai Peninsula that killed at least 12 soldiers.

Soldiers in the southern Philippines kill at least 11 members of the Maute Group, who has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

Dec. 1: The Islamic State tells its members to stop using messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, as they suspect the U.S.-led coalition is using the apps to track and kill ISIS leaders.

Dec. 3: Soldiers from the Puntland region in Somalia kill seven in a clash with a group loyal to the Islamic State.

Dec. 8: A senior U.S. military official says around 50,000 ISIS fighters have been killed since the U.S. began battling the group two years ago.

Dec. 18: A suicide bomber kills at least seven and wounds eight in an attack on Libyan forces in Benghazi. ISIS claims responsibility.
An ISIS suicide attack on a gathering of Yemeni security officers kills 48 and wounds dozens in the southern port of Aden.

Dec. 21: Clashes between Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces and the Islamic State around the town of al Bab in northern Syria result in the deaths of at least 14 Turkish soldiers and 138 ISIS fighters.

Dec. 22: The Islamic State claims responsibility for three car bombs that killed at least 23, including 15 civilians and eight policemen, in eastern Mosul.

Dec. 19-23: A truck ploughs into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack. Italian police shoot and kill the suspected driver, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a video message, four days later.

Dec. 26: A total of 226 Islamic State fighters are " neutralized " in Turkish operations around the northern Syrian town of al Bab, according to the spokesman for President Tayyip Erdogan.

Dec. 28: ISIS supporters call for more holiday attacks in Europe, including against markets and hospitals. They urge Muslims to stay away from Christian celebrations.

Dec. 29: Iraqi security forces launch the second phase of their Mosul campaign against the Islamic State.

Abu Jandal al Kuwaiti, a senior commander for the Islamic State and a member of its war committee, was killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike near the Tabqa Dam in Syria, according to the coalition spokesman.

2017

Jan. 1: The Islamic State says it carried out a bomb attack on the Syrian coastal city of Tartous and killed two security officers, according to an online statement by the group.

ISIS gunmen attack an Iraqi police checkpoint near Najaf, killing seven policemen.

Jan. 3: A German man is charged with murder, belonging to a terrorist group and committing war crimes after taking part in the execution of six ISIS detainees in Palmyra, Syria in 2015.

Jan. 4: Egyptian police arrest four people in connection with the bombing at Cairo's Coptic Christian cathedral that killed 28 people in December 2016.

Turkish authorities detain 20 suspected Islamic State militants in the coastal city of Izmir.

Jan. 5: Iraqi forces have recaptured around 70 percent of eastern Mosul from the Islamic State, according to an Iraqi general.

The Islamic State detonates two car bombs that kill at least 14 people in Baghdad.

Philippine security forces kill the leader of Ansar al Khilafah Philippines, a group that supports the Islamic State.

Jan. 6: ISIS fighters attack an Iraqi army outpost and police station near Tikrit, killing at least four soldiers and injuring 12 others.

Jan. 7: A fuel truck explodes in a town in northern Syria killing dozens and injuring dozens more. A Turkish news agency says the Islamic State was responsible, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Jan. 8: Iraqi special forces reach the eastern bank of the Tigris river in Mosul for the first time in the campaign to capture the city from the Islamic State.

A car bomb detonates at a vegetable market in eastern Baghdad killing 13 people. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Jan. 16: The Islamic State launches an assault against besieged Syrian government territory in the city of Deir Ezzor. At least 82 people are killed in the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Jan. 19: Most ISIS commanders in Mosul have been killed in battles over the last three months, an Iraqi general says.

U.S. airstrikes kill at least 80 ISIS militants in camps outside of the group's former stronghold in Sirte

ISIS fighters execute at least 12 people in Palmyra, Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

Seven Kosovo men are jailed and sentenced to between two and a half and four and a half years for fighting and recruiting for the Islamic State. Around 300 Kosovars have joined ISIS and more than 200 have been arrested, jailed or are being investigated for recruiting or fighting for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

ISIS fighters destroy the Tetrapylon monument and the façade of its Roman theater in the city of Palmyra, according to the Syrian antiquities chief.

Jan. 22: The Islamic State blows up the landmark Mosul Hotel in western Mosul to prevent Iraqi forces from using it as a base in their advance to capture the city.

Jan. 26: A 16-year-old German-Moroccan girl is jailed by a German court after stabbing a policeman at a train station on the orders of the Islamic State.

Austrian authorities arrest 14 people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State in raids in Vienna and the city of Graz.

Jan. 27: A former Indonesian finance ministry official is detained in Bali after being deported from Turkey for attempting to cross into Syria and join the Islamic State.

Jan. 29: Philippine soldiers kill 15 militants and seriously injure the leader of the ISIS-affiliate Abu Sayyaf group.

Jan. 30: An Arizona man is found guilty of providing support to the Islamic State by helping a New York City college student travel to Syria, where he was killed fighting for ISIS.

Jan. 31: German authorities arrest three men in Berlin who are suspected of having ties to the Islamic State and planning to travel to the Middle East for training.

End of Jan.: The Islamic State threatens to extend attacks beyond the Sinai Peninsula, posting photographs, names, addresses, and ranks of Egyptian military and police officers located outside the peninsula. The Islamic State urges followers to find and kill the listed men.

Feb. 2: ISIS fighters attack a military airport northeast of Damascus, killing at least 14 Syrian soldiers, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Feb. 4: The Jordanian air force carries out airstrikes against ISIS targets in southern Syria, striking an ammunition depot, a car bomb factory and a barracks.

The Turkish military says it has killed 51 ISIS militants and hit 59 targets in northern Syria near the town of al Bab.

Feb. 5: Turkish authorities detain around 400 suspected Islamic State members in raids across six provinces. It is the largest roundup against the organization in Turkey.

Feb. 6: Syrian government forces cut off the last supply route into al Bab and surround the Islamic State in the city.

Feb. 8: Gunmen attack the International Village Hotel in Somalia's Puntland region, killing four guards. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Feb. 9: A New York City man pleads guilty to attempting to provide support to the Islamic State and trying to kill an FBI agent with a knife.

Feb. 10: A suicide bomber attacks a restaurant at lunchtime in eastern Mosul, killing at least four and injuring 15. Two car bombs kill nine and injure 29 in two separate attacks in eastern Mosul and southern Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the series of attacks.

Security officials say the Islamic State in Libya has shifted to desert valleys southeast of Tripoli, after its defeat in its stronghold of Sirte.

A car bomb kills at least 51 people and injure 55 in southern Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility in an online statement.

Feb. 19: U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launch a ground offensive against the Islamic State in the western part of Mosul.

ISIS releases a video threatening Egypt's Coptic Christians and shows the last statement of the man it says is responsible for the Cairo church bombing from December.

Feb 20: The Turkish military kills 44 ISIS fighters in operations around the Syrian town of al Bab.

Feb. 22: Turkish authorities detain 35 suspected ISIS members after simultaneous raids in 41 locations across Istanbul.

Feb. 23: U.S.-backed Iraqi forces capture Mosul airport from the Islamic State.

Turkish-backed forces kill 56 ISIS fighters around the Syrian town of al Bab with the help of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

A car bomb kills more than 50 people in the village of Sousian, which is under control of the Free Syrian Army rebel forces. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack on social media.

March 1: U.S.-backed Iraqi forces take control of the last major road out of western Mosul from the Islamic State.

Uighur ISIS fighters promise to plant their flag in China and threaten rivers of blood in a new video.

March 6: Iraqi forces recapture the main government building in Mosul, the central bank and the Mosul museum from the Islamic State.

March 7: Syrian government forces and their allies capture the main water pumping station that supplies Aleppo from the Islamic State.

March 8: U.S. and Iraqi officials suspect that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has left the battle for Mosul to field commanders and is now hiding in the desert.

Gunmen dressed as medics attack a military hospital in Kabul, killing more than 30 and injuring dozens. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the assault.

March 9: The head of the Counter Terrorism Service says Iraqi forces aim to drive the Islamic State from west Mosul within a month.

March 13: Malaysian authorities arrest seven people, five of which are Filipino, for suspected ties to the Islamic State.

March 14: Iraqi forces kill the Islamic State's commander of Mosul, as both battle for control of the Old City.

March 15: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi says the Iraqi government's campaign to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State is in its final stages.

March 16: Iraqi government forces besiege ISIS fighters in Mosul's Old City.

March 17: A suicide bomber attacks a base under construction for the police anti-terrorist unit and injures two police officers in Bangladesh. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack according to BBC Bangla.

Moroccan authorities arrest 15 for suspected ties to the Islamic State in a raid.

March 18: The leader of the Islamic State's branch in Egypt, Abu Anas al Ansari, is killed in an airstrike, according to the Egyptian military.

Islamist militants attack a military base in Chechnya, killing six Russian soldiers. The Islamic State claims responsibility in an online statement.

March 25: At least six people are killed and over 40 are wounded in two bombings near a militant hideout in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

March 26: U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces retake a military air base in northern Syria from the Islamic State.

March 29: The Islamic State's branch in Egypt beheads two men for allegedly practicing witchcraft and sorcery in the Sinai Peninsula.

March 30: The Islamic State claims responsibility in its weekly newsletter al Naba for two suicide bombings in Damascus on March 15 that killed at least 31 people.

March 31: The Islamic State's deputy leader Ayad al Jumaili is killed in an air strike, according to an Iraqi intelligence spokesman.

April 2: U.S.-backed Syrian forces fend off an ISIS counterattack near the Tabqa dam in Syria.

April 4: Two Florida men plead guilty to conspiring to give material support to ISIS after planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.

April 5: ISIS fighters use police vehicles and uniforms to enter and attack Tikrit in northern Iraq, killing 31 and injuring more than 40. The Islamic State claimed responsibility via its Amaq News Agency.

April 6: The Islamic State says Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S.-Syrian fighter and propagandist, was killed in Syria in January. Abousamra helped set up the ISIS magazine Dabiq.

April 7: ISIS fighters kill dozens of civilians attempting to flee Mosul, as Iraqi forces continue battling the Islamic State for control of the city.

ISIS fighters launch two suicide attacks on U.S.-backed forces in Syria, near the border with Iraq, killing at four and wounding many more. Eight Islamic State militants also die in the attack.

April 10: Egyptian security forces kill seven suspected ISIS fighters in a shootout in the city of Assiut, in southern Egypt.

April 11: U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces advance to within a mile of the Islamic State's capital of Raqqa.

The Islamic State, which controlled 40 percent of Iraq at its height, has lost most of its territory in Iraq, according to an Iraqi military spokesman,

April 12: A suicide bomber kills at least five people and injures several more in at attack near the Afghan Defense Ministry. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

A leader of ISIS-affiliate Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines is killed, along with five other members of the group.

April 13: The United States drops "the mother of all bombs," its largest non-nuclear weapon, targeting caves and tunnels being used by the Islamic State in Afghanistan. The bomb kills at least 36 suspected ISIS fighters.

April 17: The Islamic State is in talks with al Qaeda about a possible alliance, according to Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi.

April 20: The Egyptian military says it has killed 19 members of the Islamic State's affiliate in Egypt, including three of its leaders, in an airstrike in the Sinai Peninsula.

April 21: A gunman kills two in an attack on a regional Russian Federal Security Service office. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack, according to SITE Intelligence Group.

Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, an ISIS militant who was a close associate of caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and was linked to the January night club attack in Turkey, is killed in a ground attack near Mayadin, Syria, according to the U.S. military.

April 22: The Lebanese military says a local ISIS leader is killed and 10 other suspected militants are arrested in a raid on Arsal, a northeastern border town near Syria.

A leader of the Philippine ISIS-affiliate Abu Sayyaf group is killed in a shootout with Philippine solders.

April 27 : Abdul Hasib, the head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, is killed in a joint Afghan-U.S. Special Forces operation in Nangarhar province.

April 28: A car bomb kills four Iraqi traffic officers and injures five in Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

April 29: The Islamic State kills senior Afghan Taliban official Maulvia Daud in Peshawar, Pakistan, a Taliban spokesman confirms.

April 30: ISIS fighters kill three Iraqi soldiers and wound eight in an attack on Akkashat, near the Syrian border.

May 2: ISIS militants attack Rajm al Salibi checkpoint and refugee camp in Syria near the border with Iraq, killing at least 38 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Islamic State fighters kill four Iraqi soldiers near Rutba, which controls the access to Syrian and Jordanian borders.

The head of Europol, the European Union's policy agency, says Islamic State militants are developing their own social media platform to avoid security suppressions on their messaging and propaganda.

May 4: Brazilian federal court sentences eight citizens to between six and 15 years in prison for planning to attack the 2016 Rio Olympics. The alleged plotters were inspired by the Islamic State.

May 5: The leader of the Islamic State in Egypt warns Muslims to avoid Christian gatherings. "We are warning you to stay away from Christian gatherings, as well as the gathers of the army and the police, and the areas that have political government facilities," the leader says in al Naba, ISIS's weekly newspaper.

May 7: ISIS suicide bombers attack a military base in northern Iraq where U.S. military advisers are stationed, killing at least two and injuring six. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

May 8: Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, Malaysia's most-wanted ISIS member and the suspected organizer of a grenade attack in a Kuala Lumpur bar in June 2016, is killed in Syria, Malaysia's police chief says.

May 9: The Islamic State releases a video showing the beheading of Russian intelligence officer captured in Syria, according to SITE. The Russian defense ministry denies any Russian serviceman had been captured or killed.

May 13: Syrian government forces retake a small airbase in eastern Aleppo from the Islamic State.

May 15: Two car bombs kill at least six people and injure several more near Rukban refugee camp along the Syria-Jordan border. The Islamic State claims responsibility for its attack via its Amaq News Agency.

May 18: Islamic State militants attack a village between Aleppo and Homs, killing at least 20 people.

The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) capture the Sahl Sinjar airbase from the Islamic State in the western desert about 40 miles from the Syrian border.

May 19: A suicide car bomber strikes on a highway near Iraqi oilfields in Basra province, killing several civilians and security force members. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

May 20: ISIS fighters kill around 20 people, including two children, in a village outside of Deir Ezzor and capture fighters from U.S.-backed operations, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

May 23: A car bomb explodes in Homs, Syria, killing four and injuring 32. Authorities destroy another vehicle with explosives near a Shiite shrine outside of Damascus the same day. The Islamic State claim responsibility for both car bombs via its Amaq News Agency.

May 24: The Syrian army says it has killed the Islamic State's Minister of War, Abu Musab al Masri.

May 26: The Pentagon says it has killed Mustafa Gunes, Abu Asim al Jazeri and Abu Khattab al Rawi, three senior level ISIS military leaders and planners in coalition attacks in Iraq and Syria.

May 27: Malaysian authorities arrest six men for suspected ties to the Islamic State.

May 30: A car bomb kills at least 13 people and injures 30 in Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

May 31: A coalition airstrike in Syria kills Turki al Binali, Grand Mufti of the Islamic State.

ISIS fighters in Mosul close off Grand al Nuri Mosque in preparation for their last stand. Mosul is the Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq.

May 31-June 1: Gunmen attack an Algerian military patrol unit south of Algiers, wounding four. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack

June 1: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says the rebellion in Marawi City was "purely ISIS."

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces capture one of four districts held by the Islamic State in Mosul.

June 2-3: A gunman attacks a casino in the Philippines and sets tables on fire, killing at least 36 people. The Islamic State claims the attack, but President Duterte says ISIS militants were not responsible.

June 6: Lebanese authorities arrest a Lebanese man suspected of planning a suicide attack on behalf of ISIS.

June 7:Brett McGurk, U.S. envoy to the coalition against ISIS, says the Raqqa campaign will accelerate.

A 27-year-old Virginian is convicted of providing material support to ISIS after traveling to Syria to become a suicide bomber.

June 7-8: Suicide bombers and gunmen attack the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran. At least 13 people die in the attack. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack and threatens more. Iran says the attackers were Iranians who had fought with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

June 8: The Islamic State says it has killed two Chinese teachers after kidnapping them in Pakistan in May, according to the group's Amaq News Agency.

An ISIS commander from Kosovo, who was leading Albanian fighters in Iraq and Syria, is killed, according to police and family members.

June 9: A female suicide bomber kills at least 31 people and injures 35 at a market in the Iraqi town of Musayab. A second suicide bomber kills three and wounds 15 at a bus station in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. The Islamic State claims responsibility for both attacks.

ISIS threatens attacks in Saudi Arabia after carrying out two attacks in Tehran. "Know that after Iran, your turn will come," the video message says.

June 10: The Islamic State launches an offensive against Iraqi forces south of Mosul, killing 38 military personnel and civilians and injuring more than 40. Approximately 24 ISIS fighters die in the attack.

Iran says it has killed the mastermind behind the twin terror attacks in Tehran that killed 17 people on June 7.

The U.S. joins the battle against Islamic State-affiliate Abu Sayyaf in Marawi City in the Philippines by providing technical assistance.

June 12: Islamic State spokesman Abi al Hassan al Muhajer calls for followers to launch attacks during Ramadan in the U.S., Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines via an audio message distributed on Telegram.

ISIS-affiliates control 20 percent of Marawi City, according to the Philippines military. The Islamic State claimed on its Amaq News Agency that its fighters were in control of more than two-thirds of the city.

June 13: The military chief in Jakarta says ISIS has a presence in almost all provinces in Indonesia. "After observation, we see that in almost every province ... there are already IS cells, but they are sleeper cells."

June 14: ISIS fighters launch a counter-attack in west Mosul against Iraqi forces. Dozens of Islamic State militants are killed. The group claims it killed 40 federal police forces and destroyed eight military vehicles in the counter-assault.

June 15: The Islamic State in Afghanistan says they have seized the caves in Tora Bora along the border with Pakistan.

The U.S. Department of State sanctions three ISIS members, including the leader of the Nov. 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 Brussels attacks.

June 16: Russia says it may have killed ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in an airstrike in Syria in May. Western and Iraqi officials are skeptical.

June 16-17: Three Palestinians attack Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, killing an Israeli border policewoman. The attackers are shot and killed. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack. The Israeli police say no connection has been found between any organization and the attackers.

June 17: The Russian Defense ministry says it has killed Abu Omar al Beljiki and Abu Yassin al Masri, two Islamic State field commanders, in airstrikes outside of Deir Ezzor.

June 19: Argentina's army says its website was hacked with images of members of the Islamic State. "This is a threat. ISIS is in Argentina and you will hear from us soon," the page said.

June 20: Iraq's army says it has fully encircled the Islamic State in Mosul's Old City.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov says Russia cannot confirm ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's death, according to Interfax news agency.

June 21: The Islamic State destroys the Grand al Nuri Mosque and the al Hadba minaret in Mosul. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi declared the Islamic caliphate at the mosque in June 2014. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi says, "Blowing up the al Hadba minaret and the al Nuri mosque amounts to an official acknowledgement of defeat."

Pro-Islamic State fighters storm a town south of Marawi City in the Philippines and occupy a school.

June 22: A 30-year-old New York resident is charged with attempting to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State.

June 25: U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces retake the al Qadisia district in Raqqa from the Islamic State.

June 26: The commander of the Counter-Terrorism Service in Mosul says that the city will fall "in a very few days, God willing."

June 27: A 21-year-old North Carolina man is sentenced to life in prison for plotting mass shootings in the name of the Islamic State. The man is also accused of murdering his neighbor and offering to pay an undercover agent to murder his parents.

June 29: Iraqi troops capture the Grand al Nuri Mosque in Mosul after an eight-month campaign. Prime Minister Haider al Abadi declares the end of the Islamic State's caliphate.

U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces close last route into the Islamic State's capital of Raqqa and completely encircle the city.

Iranian cleric Ali Shirazi, a representative to the Quds Force, says, "Terrorist Baghdadi is definitely dead," according to Iranian state media.

June 30: ISIS fighters withdraw from their last territory in Aleppo province after Syrian government forces retake the Ithriya-Rasafa road.

July 3: U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces breach Raqqa's Old City.

July 5: Turkish authorities detain 37 suspected ISIS operatives in anti-terror operations across Turkey. One suspect is detained carrying more than 11lbs of explosives at the Turkey-Syria border.

July 6: An Ohio man pleads guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State. He was arrested November 7 when he tried to travel to join ISIS in Libya.

Turkish authorities detain 29 suspected ISIS operatives in Istanbul, of which 22 are foreign nationals. The suspects were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria.

July 8: ISIS fighters pledge to fight to the death defending Mosul's Old City, Amaq News Agency says.

July 9: Iraqi Prime Minster Haider al Abadi declares victory over ISIS in Mosul.

July 10: A U.S. Army sergeant stationed in Hawaii is arrested for attempting to provide drone aircraft and combat training instructions to the Islamic State. The material support includes.

July 11: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has "confirmed information" that ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is dead.

July 12: Iraqi forces clash with Islamic State militant in Mosul's Old City despite declaring victory in the city 36-hours before.

Turkish authorities kill five suspected ISIS militants in a raid on a cell in the city of Konya. Four officers were slightly injured from the raid.

July 13: ISIS's new issue of its monthly magazine Rumiyah claims responsibility for two attempted June attacks in Paris and Brussels.

July 14: The Pentagon says the head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abu Sayed, was killed in an airstrike on the group's headquarters in Kunar province.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis says the U.S. cannot prove that ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is dead. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had confirmed that Baghdadi had been killed on July 11.

Pockets of resistance from ISIS fighters remain in Mosul. Iraqi Prime Minister al Abadi declared victory in Mosul on July 9.

July 15: Syrian government forces seize Wahab, al Fahd, Dbaysan, al Qaseer, Abu al Qatat and Abu Qatash oil fields and several small villages from the Islamic State in the desert area southwest of Raqqa.

July 17: A top Kurdish counter-terrorism official says he is 99 percent sure that ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is alive and most likely south of the Raqqa in Syria. Reports of Baghdadi's death have circulated numerous times.

July 18: Egyptian security forces kill Ahmed Hassan Ahmed al Nashu, also known as Ghandur al Masri, a prominent ISIS militant in the Sinai Peninsula.

A car bomb kills four people at a security checkpoint in a Kurdish-controlled area in northeast Syria. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

July 22: A U.S. Army sergeant stationed in Hawaii is indicted for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

July 26: Algerian authorities dismantle an Islamic State cell led by former a former al Qaeda commander.

July 31: Two people are killed and three are injured after an attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Aug. 3-5: The Islamic State and the Taliban launch a joint attack on the town of Mirza Olang in Afghanistan, killing at least 36 people, including civilians and pro-government fighters.

Aug. 4: U.S. special envoy for the coalition against the Islamic State Brett McGurk says about 2,000 ISIS fighters are still in Raqqa. The has cleared about 45 percent of the caliphate's capital.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says the group will join the assault against the Islamic State's territory along the Syria-Lebanon border.

Aug. 7: Iranian state news agency, IRNA, says Iranian security forces broke up a group linked to the Islamic State. The group was allegedly planning attacks on religious center and trying to hide weapons in home appliances. A total of 27 suspects are arrested.

Aug. 8: A Maryland man is indicted for attempting to murder an FBI agent and provide support to ISIS militants.

Aug. 9: Four Egyptian policemen are killed after an attack on a patrol car in the Sinai Peninsula. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack on its Amaq News Agency.

Aug. 10: The U.S. military kills several senior members of the Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan, including Abdul Rahman, the emir of ISIS Khorasan, in an airstrike.

Turkish authorities detain a suspected ISIS militant for allegedly planning to use a drone to bring down a U.S. plane at the Incirlik air base.

Aug. 12: Syrian government forces and its allies seize the last major town in Homs province held by the Islamic State.

A bomb kills at least 15 people and injures another 40 at a market in Quetta, Pakistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Aug. 14: A suspected ISIS militant stabs and kills a Turkish police officer while being taken into police headquarters. The suspect was allegedly preparing a bomb attack.

Aug. 15: Iraqi forces target the Islamic State in Tal Afar with airstrikes in preparation for a ground assault, an Iraqi military spokesman says.

Aug. 17-22: At least 13 people are dead and over 80 injured after a van drives down a pedestrian area in Barcelona. A second vehicle attack was foiled by Catalan police in Cambrils, a town 70 miles south of Barcelona. Five suspects are shot and killed and six civilians and one police officer are injured. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the van attack. A suspect says the cell had planned major bombings against churches or monuments as well.

Aug. 18: The Lebanese army and Hezbollah announce a joint assault on Islamic State territory on the northeastern border with Syria. Hezbollah is targeting ISIS from the Syrian side, while the Lebanese army is targeting the caliphate from the Lebanese side of the border.

Aug. 20: Iraqi security forces launch an offensive to take back Tal Afar from the Islamic State in northwest Iraq.

Russia says it has killed over 200 Islamic State fighters on their way to Deir Ezzor in Syria.

Hezbollah uses drones to strike the Islamic State along the Lebanon-Syrian border, a Hezbollah-run media outlet says.

Aug. 22: Iraqi forces breach the city limits of Tal Afar, the last Islamic State stronghold in northwest Iraq.

Aug. 25: Three men attack Shiite Imam Zaman Mosque in Kabul during Friday prayers, killing at least 30 and injuring another 30. One attacker blows himself up at the gate and two other attackers storm the mosque firing on security forces. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Aug. 26: Syrian government forces and its allies capture approximately 770 square miles of territory from the Islamic State in the central Syrian desert, a Hezbollah-run media outlet says.

Iraqi forces say Tal Afar, one of the Islamic State's strongholds in northwest Iraq, is about to fall after a week-long offensive. Only five percent remains under ISIS control.

Aug. 28: A car bomb kills at least eight people and injures 25 in an attack at a vegetable market in a Shiite district of Baghdad. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Aug. 29: The U.S. and Iraq banish Salim Mustafa Muhammad al Mansur, a senior Islamic State finance official from their financial systems, the U.S. Treasury Department says.

Aug. 30: The Islamic State claims responsibility for a suicide attack on the home of the deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament in Jalalabad. Both attackers die after killing two security guards.

A car bomb kills four Libyan National Army troops at a security checkpoint in Libya's oil crescent region. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack on its Amaq News Agency.

Lebanese authorities arrest and interrogate a suspected ISIS commander, Lebanon's state news agency says. The man confessed to participation in several attacks in Lebanon as well as recruitment, smuggling, kidnapping, army procurement and financing ISIS operations.

Sept. 1: U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura says the Islamic State's remaining strongholds in Syria will most likely fall by the end of October.

Sept. 2: Suicide bombers attack a power station north of Baghdad, killing seven people and forcing the facility to close. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Sept. 4: East Libyan forces launch airstrikes on ISIS fighters near their former stronghold of Sirte after incursions south and east of the city.

Sept. 5: Syrian armed forces and its allies break the Islamic State siege in Deir Ezzor, one of the caliphate's last major strongholds in Syria.

Sept. 6: Turkish police shoot and kill an Islamic State militant who was planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack on a police station in the city of Mersin.

Sept. 8: Russia's Defense Ministry says a Russian airstrike has killed 40 ISIS fighters, including four senior commanders, near Deir Ezzor.

Sept. 11: Islamist militants attack a security convoy with guns and an IED in the Sinai Peninsula. At least 18 policemen are killed and three armored vehicles and a signal-jamming vehicle are destroyed. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack.

Sept. 12: An American citizen fighting for ISIS in Syria surrenders to U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces the Pentagon says. "The U.S. citizen is being legally detained by Department of Defense personnel as a known enemy combatant," Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway says.

Bosnian Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic says Islamic State flags are not flying in the country after allegations from European leaders claiming that radical Bosnian Muslims are a terrorist threat for Europe.

Iran arrests an ISIS member from Syria and foils a plan that called for 300 people to carry out suicide attacks Iran's Revolutionary Guards says.

Sept. 15-19: A bomb explodes, but fails to fully detonate, on a morning commuter train at Parsons Green station in London, injuring 30 passengers. British authorities arrest five men in connection with the bombing. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack via Amaq News Agency. British and U.S. government sources say there is no evidence linking the bombing with a recognized militant group.

Sept. 20: The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces say its Raqqa campaign is in its final stages. forces have seized 80 percent of the Islamic State's capital.

The Islamic State targets an Iranian aid convoy with mortar shells in eastern Syria, resulting in one injury and material damage, according to a Hezbollah-run media outlet.

Sept. 21: Iraqi forces launch an offensive on Hawija, one of the last territories under Islamic State.

Sept. 22: The U.S. kills 17 Islamic State militants and destroy three vehicles in six airstrikes on a desert camp in Libya. The airstrikes are the first carried out in Libya since Donald Trump took office.

Sept. 23: U.S.-backed forces capture the Conoco gas field from the Islamic State in Syria's Deir Ezzoz province. The gas field is the first liberated in the campaign to capture areas east of the Euphrates river from ISIS.

Sept. 24: Iran's Revolutionary Guards strike Islamic State bases in eastern Syria with drones, destroying military equipment and ammunition, according to Iranian state television.

Sept. 25: U.S.-backed militias expect to dislodge ISIS from its capital Raqqa in less than a month, according to a Kurdish commander.

Sept. 26: The U.S. carries out two airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya 100 miles southeast of Sirte. Several Islamic State militants are killed, according to the U.S. military.

Islamic State militants kill at least seven Iraqi soldiers after launching the largest attack in months near the city of Ramadi in Anbar province. ISIS fighters used suicide car bombs, mortars and machine guns.

Sept. 28: Islamic State fighters in Libya set up an army of at least three brigades in the desert after losing their stronghold of Sirte in December 2016, according to a senior prosecutor. Al Mahdi Salem Dangou, also known as Abu Barakat, is the leader. Approximately 1,500 to 3,200 soldiers compose a typical brigade.

Israel says it foiled a plan by two Israeli Arabs with ISIS sympathies to attack the al Aqsa mosque.

Sept. 29: One person is killed and another five are injured after a suicide attack near the Shiite Hussainya mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

The Islamic State releases a new audio message from Baghdadi. This is the first message from the caliph in 11 months. His death has been reported numerous times.

Islamic State fighters capture a town in Homs province from Syrian government forces, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Oct. 1-7: Hundreds of Islamic State militants surrender to Kurdish authorities after being driven from Hawija, its last stronghold in northern Iraq.

Oct. 1-23: The Islamic State kills more than 60 civilians in a Syrian town in central Homs province before the Syrian army recaptures it. Over 100 others are missing, kidnapped or killed, according to the Homs province governor.

Oct. 2: Islamic State fighters set fire to three oil wells near Hawija as Iraqi forces continue their offensive to dislodge ISIS from the area.

Iraqi forces liberate the town of Rashad completely from terrorists and also liberate 45 villages in Hawija and kill dozens of terrorists pic.twitter.com/W3OermKx4l

- IRAQI NATIONAL ARMY (@Defense_Iraq) October 2, 2017

Oct. 4: Gunmen kill at least four and injure another 40 in a suicide attack on a court in Misrata, Libya. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack via Amaq News Agency.

Oct. 5: Iraqi forces capture the Islamic State's last stronghold Hawija and its surrounding areas.

A suicide bomber kills at least 18 people and injures more than 30 at an attack on a shrine in southwest Pakistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Saudi Arabia says it dismantled an ISIS cell in Riyadh. The cell was plotting to launch a suicide attack on the defense ministry. Two militants are killed and five are arrested in three different raids.

Oct. 6: The Syrian military clears the Islamic State from its last pocket of territory in central Syria.

U.S. prosecutors say three men have been arrested since May 2016 for plotting attacks in New York City for the Islamic State. The plots included detonating explosives in Times Square and the subway.

Oct. 7: Malaysian authorities arrest four foreign and four Malaysian nationals for suspected involvement in activities linked to Islamic State affiliate Abu Sayyaf.

Oct. 9: The Islamic State captures 12 villages and carries out an attack against al Qaeda affiliate Hay'at Tahrir al Sham in the area east of Hama only days after the Syrian military had cleared ISIS from a nearby area.

Oct. 10: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi says the Islamic State will be completely defeated in Iraq this year.

Oct. 12: The Islamic State kills at least 50 people in a triple car bomb attack in northeast Syria, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent.

Oct 13: At least six Egyptian soldiers are killed after an attack on a military post in the Sinai Peninsula. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Oct. 14: Syrian government and allied forces retake al Mayadeen from the Islamic State in eastern Syria.

Oct. 15: More than 100 militants attack security outposts in the Sinai Peninsula killing six soldiers and injuring more than 20 security force members. At least 24 militants are also killed. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Oct. 16: The U.S. military carries out an airstrike against the Islamic State in the southern Yemeni al Bayda province, killing dozens of ISIS militants. The camps were being used to train new fighters, the Pentagon says.

Two leaders of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia are killed by Philippine armed forces in Marawi City. The leaders are identified as Isnilon Hapilon, the emir, and rebel commander Omarkhayam Maute.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declares the southern city of Marawi liberated from Islamic State affiliate Abu Sayyaf.

A federal jury begins deliberating on the case of Massachusetts man who is accused of conspiring with his uncle and friend to help the Islamic State by attacking police and beheading a conservative blogger.

Oct. 20: U.S.-backed Syrian forces declare victory of the Islamic State in its former capital Raqqa after a four-month long campaign.

Suicide bombers attack two mosques in Afghanistan killing at least 72 people, including children. The Islamic State claims responsibility for both attacks without providing evidence.

Oct. 22: U.S.-backed militias capture Syria's largest oil field from the Islamic State in eastern Syria.

Oct. 23: The Philippines ends five months of fighting against Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State affiliate, in the southern city of Marawi.

Moroccan police arrest six suspected Islamic State militants who were plotting attacks, including an explosives expert.

A Honduras citizen living in Miami appears in federal court after being charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction in a planned attack on a Miami shopping mall. The man is suspected of being an ISIS sympathizer after providing videos with pro-ISIS statements to two undercover FBI agents.

Oct 24: Indonesian police arrest nine militants suspected of having ties to the Islamic State and planning a series attacks on police posts.

Oct. 24-26: Eight soldiers and one civilian are killed and five are injured after an attack in northeast Nigeria. Three four-wheel-drive vehicles, heavy weaponry and various ammunition are taken in the attack. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Oct. 25: Two soldiers are killed and three injured in an attack on a military checkpoint in northeastern Libya. The Islamic State claims responsibility via its Amaq News Agency.

Oct. 26: The Syrian army and its allies capture the "T2" pumping station in eastern Syria from the Islamic State. The oil pump is said to be a launch pad for the army to advances towards Abu Kamal, ISIS's last stronghold in Syria, according to a Hezbollah-run media outlet.

A report from the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons' Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) says ISIS was responsible for the use of sulfur mustard, also known as mustard gas, in the Syrian town of Umm Hawsh on Sept. 15-16, 2016.

Oct. 27: A Brooklyn man is sentenced to the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Oct. 29: Turkish authorities detain 143 people with suspected ties to the Islamic State following anti-terror operations in eight cities.

A suicide bomber kills at least eight people and injures many more in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility via its Amaq News Agency.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/926421589159182339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Nov. 2-3: The U.S. carries out its first airstrike against the Islamic State in Somalia, killing "several terrorists," the U.S. military says.

Nov. 2: Iraqi forces capture the Akkas gas field in the Anbar province near the Syrian border from the Islamic State.

A U.N. human rights report says Iraq is not capable of trying atrocities committed by the Islamic State during the battle for Mosul. At least 2,521 civilians were killed, including 741 executions, as a result of ISIS attacks, according to the report. It suggests Iraq finds alternative routes such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Nov. 3: The Syrian government declares victory over the Islamic State in Deir Ezzor,the largest city in eastern Syria and the epicenter of the country's oil production.

Iraqi forces capture al Qaim, one of the Islamic State's last territories, according to Prime Minister Haid al Abadi.

Italy's finance police and customs officials seize more than 24 million tablets of opiates at the port of Gioia Tauro from Islamic State militants. The container of opiates was worth about $59 million. Italy's chief prosecutor says the drug sales were "managed directly by Islamic State to finance the terrorist activities planned and carried out around the world."

Nov. 4: The Islamic State claims responsibility for the New York City truck attack that killed eight people on October 31 in its weekly issue of al Naba newspaper. ISIS described the driver as "one of the caliphate soldiers."

Nov. 5: A suicide car bomber kills 15 and injures 20 after detonating at a security checkpoint in the south Yemeni port city of Aden. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Nov. 7: At least two people are killed and 20 injured after gunmen disguised as police open fire on staff at a private television station in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Nov. 8: An Islamic State faction in northern Somalia has grown from a few dozen to 200 members over the last year, according to a new U.N. report. Security officials fear it could become a safe haven for ISIS fighters fleeing Iraq and Syria.

Syria's army and its allies capture Abu Kamal, the Islamic State's last Syrian stronghold.

Nov. 9: Syria's army declares victory of the Islamic State.

Nov. 10: A Hezbollah media unit says ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was reported in the Syrian town of Abu Kamal during the Syrian army's operation to clear it.

The Islamic State reclaims half of the Syrian border town Abu Kamal, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syrian army said it had captured Abu Kamal on Nov. 9.

Turkish authorities detain 100 Islamic State suspects after three separate raids. Approximately 93 of the arrested were foreign nationals and seven were Turkish citizens. Weapons and documents are also seized.

Hackers play 30 minutes of Islamic State propaganda on Swedish radio station Mix Megapol.

Nov. 11: President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin issue a joint statement in which both countries agree to continue cooperative efforts against the Islamic State until it is defeated.

Nov. 13: Secretary of Defense James Mattis says the U.S. military will fight the Islamic State in Syria "as long as they want to fight." The long-term objective of the U.S. military in Syria is to prevent the return of an "ISIS 2.0," according to Mattis.

Nov. 14: A car bomb kills at least six people and injures dozens are injured outside a camp used by local security forces in Yemen's port city Aden. The Islamic State claims responsibility.

Nov. 15: Forces from east Libya launch airstrikes against ISIS fighters south of the group's former stronghold Sirte.

Nov. 16: A suicide bomber kills at least nine and injures many more in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack via Amaq News Agency.

Nov. 17: Iraqi forces capture the border town of Rawa, the last remaining town under ISIS control in Iraq.
A car bomb kills 20 and injures another 30 people south of Deir Ezzor. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack, according to Syrian state media.

Nov. 21: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi says the Islamic State has been defeated militarily, but will only declare a final victory over ISIS after fighters are routed in the desert.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declares the end of the Islamic State.

German authorities detain six Syrians suspected of planning an attack on behalf of the Islamic State.

Dec. 9: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State.

Dec. 27: Less than 1,000 ISIS fighters remained in Iraq and Syria, according to the coalition. It is a third of the estimated figure from three weeks ago.

Dec. 29: The Islamic State's loss of territory in Iraq and Syria will change the coalition's operations against them, Defense Secretary James Mattis said. "We sit here today at the end of 2017, the caliphate is on the run, we're breaking them," Mattis said. He added that fighters who fled will have to be "hunted down."

2018

Jan. 17: U.S. troops will remain in Syria even after their fight against the Islamic State is over, to counter Iran and Bashar al Assad in Syria, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "ISIS has one foot in the grave, and by maintaining an American military presence in Syria until the full and complete defeat of ISIS is achieved, it will soon have two," he says at the Hoover Institution.

Jan. 22: U.S. government and foreign experts warn that the Islamic State still had as many as 10,000 loyalists in both Iraq and Syria.

Jan. 23: A U.S.-led coalition airstrike targeting ISIS headquarters and a control center kills 150 fighters in Syria.

Feb. 4: Thousands of ISIS fighters and families flee, escaped, or went underground, according to intelligence assessments. "Jihadists are going underground, dispersing to other safe havens, including on the internet, and returning to their home countries," says Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

Feb. 12: U.S. officials claim that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was injured in an airstrike near Raqqa in May 2017. He was forced to give up control of the Islamic State for five months due to injuries.

Feb. 26: Iraq sentences 15 Turkish women who were suspected of being ISIS members to death by hanging.

March 20: The bodies of 39 Indian construction workers abducted by ISIS in 2014 are found in a mass grave in Iraq.

April 22: Iraq targets ISIS positions and an explosive factory with airstrikes in Syria, killing 36 fighters.

April 27: The United States, Canada and some European countries take down the Islamic State's propaganda including its affiliated Amaq News Agency in a coordinated operation, according to Europol.

April 29: An Iraqi court sentences 19 Russian women to life imprisonment for joining the Islamic State.

May 1: The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announces a new effort to reclaim the last ISIS held territory in Syria. "ISIS retains a significant presence near the Iraqi borders from which it seeks to retain safe haven to plan attacks around the world and expand its territory in Syria and Iraq," an SDF statement said. "Over the coming weeks, our heroic forces will liberate these areas, secure the Iraq-Syria border, and end the presence of ISIS in eastern Syria once and for all."

May 6: The Iraqi air force carries out a series of strikes against ISIS commanders in Syria.

May 9: A group of senior Islamic State officials who had been hiding in Turkey and Syria are captured in a cross-border U.S.-Iraqi sting. Four of the five arrested were Iraqi and one was Syrian. Their responsibilities included governing the Islamic State's territory around Deir al Zour, Syria, directing internal security and running the administrative body that oversees religious rulings.

May 29-31: A prison inmate murders two police officers and a bystander in Belgium while on a two-day furlough. The Islamic State claims responsibility for the attack via its Amaq news agency.

June 12: German police in Cologne foil a terrorist plot involving ricin by a Tunisian extremist suspected of being in contact with Islamic State. It is reportedly the first time a jihadist terrorist in the West has successfully produced a toxic biological agent.

July 12-August 1: Taliban and Islamic State forces clash in Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The three-week Battle of Darzab ends in an Islamic State defeat and the dismantlement of most of the group's organization in Jowzjan.

July 25: ISIS attacks and seizes several towns in al Suwayda Province in southern Syria, killing more than 150 people. Syrian regime forces and local militias drive out the jihadists in a counterattack later that day.

August 23: ISIS releases an audio recording purportedly from Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. He downplays the importance of the group's recent territorial losses, saying: "For the Mujahideen [holy warriors] the scale of victory or defeat is not dependent on a city or town being stolen."

September: The West Point Counterterrorism Center releases a report warning that ISIS is transitioning to insurgent tactics, making use of cave complexes in northern Iraq.

September 22: Gunmen attack a military parade in Ahvaz, in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan Province. Both Islamic State and a local Arab separatist group claim responsibility for the attack, which killed more than 25 people including Revolutionary Guard soldiers.

October 24: ISIS launches an offensive to retake territory in eastern Syria, killing more than 40 SDF fighters and seizing ground along the Iraqi border.

November 1: The SDF suspends offensive operations against ISIS in response to cross-border attacks by Turkey.

November 11: The SDF resumes offensive operations against ISIS in eastern Syria.

December 1: The SDF conducts an operation to round up ISIS fighters who had formed sleeper cells in eastern Syria. The arrested militants had previously been released as part of a deal between the SDF and local tribal leaders.

December 14: SDF forces capture Hajin, the last major town controlled by ISIS in eastern Syria. SDF Commander Mazloum Kobani estimates that 5,000 ISIS fighters remain in villages along the Euphrates River south of Hajin.

December 19: President Trump signals his intent to withdraw the 2,000 U.S. forces from Syria. "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency," he tweeted.

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December 26: Islamic State claims responsibility for a suicide bombing at Libya's foreign ministry that killed at least three people.

December 30: Syrian President Bashar Assad authorizes Iraqi forces to strike ISIS targets inside Syria without requesting permission from the Syrian government.

2019

January 17: Islamic State's West Africa branch carries out a large-scale raid in northeastern Nigeria, overrunning internally displaced person camps and displacing over 8,000 people.

February 1: SDF forces lay siege to the village of Baghouz, the last enclave held by ISIS in eastern Syria, but delay their assault to allow civilians to evacuate. More than 20,000 civilians leave Baghouz over the next few weeks.

February 20: Britain revokes the citizenship of Shamima Begum, who traveled from the U.K. to Syria in 2015 to become an ISIS bride. Western countries are reluctant to accept the return of the approximately 800 foreign ISIS fighters and more than 4,000 ISIS family members held in custody by the SDF. In 2018, SDF officials had warned that they might release ISIS fighters if they are not repatriated.

February 22: The United States announces that 400 U.S. troops will remain in Syria to prevent the resurgence of ISIS, reversing President Trump's initial signal that all U.S. forces in the country would be withdrawn.

March 7: General Joseph Votel, the outgoing commander of U.S. Central Command, warns Congress that ISIS is lying in wait for a resurgence. ISIS made a "calculated decision to preserve the safety of their families and preservation of their capabilities by taking their chances in camps for internally displaced persons, and going to ground in remote areas and waiting for the right time to resurge," Votel says during testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.

March 23: SDF forces capture Baghouz, a village in Syria, ending the Islamic State's claim to any territory. "We announce today the destruction of the so-called Islamic State organization and the end of its ground control in its last pocket in Baghouz," declared SDF Commander Mazloum Kobani.

April 21: On Easter Sunday, suicide bombers kill at least 250 people in attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo and cities of Negombo and Batticaloa. At least 250 people are killed. ISIS claims responsibility.

September 16: Baghdadi urges followers in an audiotape to free detained ISIS members held in prison camps in Iraq and Syria.

October 5: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warns that is country is preparing to invade northern Syria. Two days later, the Trump administration announced that it would withdraw U.S. forces from the area and that Turkey would move forward with the operation. Hundreds of ISIS prisoners escape during the offensive.

October 26: Baghdadi dies during a U.S. special operations raid in Idlib, Syria.

October 31: ISIS confirms Baghdadi's death and names his successor, Ibrahim al Hashemi al Qurayshi.
Cameron Glenn, a program assistant, Mattisan Rowan, a program assistant, John Caves, a research assistant, and Garrett Nada, a program officer, at the U.S. Institute of Peace, contributed to this timeline. It was originally published in 2016.

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Timeline: the Rise, Spread, and Fall of the Islamic State

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At its height, the Islamic State - also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh - held about a third of Syria and 40 percent of Iraq. By December 2017 it had lost 95 percent of its territory, including its two biggest properties, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, its nominal capital.

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https://padlet.com/210301691/o6f80gfsycdln18u