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On June 12, 2014, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani claimed that ISIS will target Samarra, Baghdad, Karbala, and Najaf. These cities and their Shi’a shrines will not fall the way that Mosul did.
ISIS operations around Samarra during this phase of its northern offensive will be an important indicator of its ultimate intent and its estimate of its own capabilities.
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has achieved the goals of its major year-long offensive with the fall of Mosul and the collapse of the Iraqi Security Forces north of Baghdad.
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has a disciplined military command that reports attacks across operating areas that has operated in this manner for at least two years.
Anbar is not the only front in Iraq on which Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), now operating as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), is fighting in 2014. ISIS has also established a governorate in Diyala. Its spokesman has named the province the central front in the sectarian conflict he has urged.
As clashes continue throughout Iraq and Syria, ISW Senior Fellow LTG James M. Dubik (U.S. Army, Ret.), ISW Research Director Jessica D. Lewis, and Iraq Team Lead Ahmed Ali have lent their perspectives to the rapidly-changing situation on the ground.
ISW Senior Fellow LTG James Dubik offers his opinion on how the U.S. can help Iraq in its fight against Al-Qaeda in this weekend's Washington Post.
The resurgence of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is a clear threat to Maliki’s government and the Iraqi people, and its leadership of foreign fighters in Syria is also a threat to the United States.
