This article is about the global war fought by the coalition against the Islamic State. For the war fought by Iraq against the Islamic State, see
War in Iraq (2013–2017). For the Islamic State’s military involvement in Syria, see
Syrian civil war.
Many states began to intervene against the Islamic State, in both the Syrian Civil War and the War in Iraq (2013–2017), in response to its rapid territorial gains from its 2014 Northern Iraq offensives, universally condemned executions, human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War. These efforts are called the war against the Islamic State, or the war against ISIS. In later years, there were also minor interventions by some states against IS-affiliated groups in Nigeria and Libya. All these efforts significantly degraded the Islamic State's capabilities by around 2019–2020. While moderate fighting continues in Syria, as of 2024, ISIS has been contained to a manageably small area and force capability.
Quick Facts Date, Location ...
War against the Islamic State |
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Part of the war on terror, Second Libyan Civil War, War in Iraq (2013–2017), Syrian civil war and spillover of the Syrian civil war, Sinai insurgency, Boko Haram insurgency, insurgency in the North Caucasus, Moro conflict, Insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Qandala campaign and the Sahel War |
From top to bottom, left to right:
Map of the current military situation in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon Map of the current military situation in Libya Map of the current military situation in Nigeria Map of the current military situation in Sinai Map of the current military situation in Yemen |
Date | 13 June 2014 – present (10 years, 2 weeks and 4 days) |
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Location | |
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Status |
Ongoing; ISIL militarily defeated in Iraq, Syria and Libya
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- Airstrikes on ISIL positions in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Nigeria and Afghanistan
- Multinational humanitarian efforts
- Arming and supporting local ground forces
- Millions of civilians in Iraq and Syria flee their homes, sparking a refugee crisis
- Terrorist attacks in Paris (Jan 2015 and Nov 2015), Brussels (Mar 2016) and many other places
- Thousands of civilians executed by ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria
- ISIL controlled around 40% of Iraq at its peak in mid-2014[1]
- ISIL controlled around 50% of Syria by late May 2015[2][3]
- Emergence of independently-governed Kurdish regions
- ISIL military defeated and lost all of its territory in Libya in December 2017[4][5]
- Boko Haram loses territory, but its insurgency continues[6]
- ISIL controlled 5.67% of Syria's land by November 2017[7] and around 3% of Iraq by October 2017[8]
- ISIL loses all territory in Iraq and most territory in Syria in December 2017[9]
- ISIL loses all remaining territory in Syria in March 2019[10]
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Belligerents |
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In multiple regions:
In Iraq:
In Syria:
Syrian Arab Republic
Russia
Iran
Syrian Interim Government (2013–present)
Turkey
Syrian Salvation Government (2017–present)
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (2015–present)
United States
In Gaza:
Hamas
In Libya:
In Afghanistan:
In West Africa: |
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Commanders and leaders |
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Joe Biden (from 2021)
Lloyd Austin (from 2021)
Rishi Sunak (from 2022)
Grant Shapps (from 2023)
Emmanuel Macron (from 2017)
Sébastien Lecornu (from 2022)
Anthony Albanese (from 2022)
Greg Moriarty (from 2017)
Alexander De Croo (from 2020)
Ludivine Dedonder (from 2020)
Hamad Al Khalifa
Mette Frederiksen (from 2019)
Troels Lund Poulsen (from 2023)
Justin Trudeau (from 2015)
Bill Blair (from 2023)
Olaf Scholz (from 2021)
Boris Pistorius (from 2023)
Giorgia Meloni (from 2022)
Guido Crosetto (from 2022)
King Abdullah II
King Mohammed VI
Mark Rutte
Kajsa Ollongren (from 2022)
Jonas Gahr Støre (from 2021)
Bjørn Arild Gram (from 2022)
Tamim Al Thani
King Salman (from 2015)
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Yaşar Güler
Mohamed Al Nahyan
Bashar al-Assad
Vladimir Putin
Mikhail Mishustin
Andrey Belousov
Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani (from 2022)
Nechirvan Barzani (from 2019)
Khalifa Haftar (from 2014)
Saddam Haftar (from 2016)
Qasem Soleimani
Ali Khamenei
Hassan Nasrallah
Michel Aoun
Shehbaz Sharif (from 2022)
Hibatullah Akhundzada (from 2016)
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Bola Tinubu (from 2023)
Mahamat Déby (from 2021)
Paul Biya
Abdourahamane Tchiani (from 2023)
Évariste Ndayishimiye (from 2020)
Abdelmadjid Tebboune (from 2019)
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Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (leader)
Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi † (Former leader)
Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † (Former leader)
Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi † (Former leader)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi † (Former leader)[15]
Abu Ali al-Anbari † (Deputy Leader of ISIL)[16]
Abu Ayman al-Iraqi † (Head of Military Shura)[17][18]
Abu Suleiman al-Naser † (Replacement Military Chief)[18]
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani † (Deputy Leader, Iraq)[19]
Abu Osama al-Masri † (Emir of Sinai)
Abu Omar al-Shishani † (Chief commander in Syria)[20][21][22][23]
Abu Muhammad al-Kadari † (ISIL commander of the North Caucasus)
Abu Nabil al-Anbari † (former ISIL commander of North Africa)[24]
Abubakar Shekau † (ISIL Emir of West Africa)[14][25]
Abu Abdullah al-Filipini † (ISIL Emir of the Philippines and Co-Leader of Abu Sayyaf)
Radullan Sahiron † (Co-Leader of Abu Sayyaf) |
Strength |
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- 4,100 troops (in Iraq)[26]
- 2,500 troops (in Kuwait)[27]
- 7,000 contractors[28][29]
- 500 soldiers to retrain the Iraqi army[30]
- 400 RAAF personnel[31]
- 200 special forces troops
- 300+ regular soldiers (combined with 100+ New Zealand soldiers)[32]
- 130 search and rescue team
- 1,200 troops[35][36]
- Army: 130,000 active frontline troops. 32,000 active reserve troops.
- Police Force: 371,000 officers
Syrian Salvation Government:
- 50,000+ soldiers[40][41]
- Islamic Front (2013-2015); 26,000-30,000 soldiers[42][43]
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- 200,000 in Iraq and Syria (claim by Iraqi Kurdistan Chief of Staff)[44]
- 28,600–31,600 in Iraq and Syria (Defense Department estimate)[45]
- 35,000–100,000 (State Department estimate)[46]
- 1,500+ in Egypt
- 6,500–10,000 in Libya[47][48]
- 7,000–10,000 in Nigeria[49]
- 1,000–3,000 in Afghanistan[50][51]
- At least 400 in the Philippines and Malaysia
- Up to 600 tanks[52][53]
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Casualties and losses |
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Iraq:
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- 16,000+ killed and 13,000+ wounded[54][55]
Rojava:
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- 11,000+ fighters killed[56]
Syria:
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- 8,000+ soldiers killed[57]
Syrian Opposition:
Kurdistan Region:
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- 1,500+ fighters killed[60]
- 6,000+ fighters wounded[61]
- 52 fighters missing[62]
Egypt:
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- 700+ security forces killed[63]
Chad:
Turkey:
Nigeria:
Iran:
Russia:
Niger:
United States:
Cameroon:
Saudi Arabia:
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- 3 border guards killed[89]
Canada:
France
United Kingdom
Jordan:
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Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant:
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- 80,000+ killed[92] overall since 2014[93]
- 1,500–2,500 killed in Libya[94][95]
- 974 killed in Philippines
- 300 killed in Afghanistan[96]
- 1,000+ killed in Egypt[97][98][99]
80,000+ militants killed overall[92] |
13,568+ Iraqi civilians killed by Islamic State[60][100][101]
5,939+ Syrian civilians killed by Islamic State[102]
8,317–13,190 civilians killed by Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria (per Airwars)
1,417 civilians killed by Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria (per Coalition)[103]
4,096–6,085 civilians killed by Russian airstrikes in Syria[104]
3,300,000 Iraqi civilians displaced[105] |
Close
In mid-June 2014, Iran, according to American and British information, started flying drones over Iraq, and, according to Reuters, Iranian soldiers were in Iraq fighting IS. Simultaneously, the United States ordered a small number of troops to Iraq and started flying crewed aircraft over Iraq. In July 2014, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iran sent Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft to Iraq, and Hezbollah purportedly sent trainers and advisers to Iraq in order to help Shia militias to monitor ISIL's movements. In August 2014, the US and Iran separately began a campaign of airstrikes on ISIL targets in Iraq. Since then, fourteen countries in a US-led coalition have also executed airstrikes on ISIL in Iraq and in Syria. Starting from September 2014, United States began closely co-operating with Saudi Arabia and Jordan to wage a co-ordinated aerial bombing campaign against IS targets across Iraq and Syria.[106]
In September 2015, Russian forces launched its military intervention in Syria to support its ally Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the Islamic State. Although Moscow officially portrayed its intervention as an anti-IS campaign and publicly declared support to the "patriotic Syrian opposition", vast majority of its bombings were focused on destroying bases of the Syrian opposition militias of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Southern Front.[107] On the other hand, United States and its Western allies have been opposed to the Ba'athist regime for its purported state-sponsorship of terrorism, violent repression of Syrian revolution and extensive use of chemical weapons. The US-led coalition trained, equipped and supported secular Free Syrian and Kurdish militias opposed to the Assad government during its anti-IS campaign.[108] In the months following the beginning of both air campaigns, ISIL began to lose ground in both Iraq and Syria.[109] Civilian deaths from airstrikes began to mount in 2015 and 2016.[110][111] In mid-2016, the US and Russia planned to begin coordinating their airstrikes; however, this coordination did not materialize.[112][113]
As of December 2017, ISIL was estimated to control no territory in Iraq, and 5% of Syrian territory, after prolonged actions.[114] On 9 December 2017, Iraq declared victory in the fight against ISIL and stated that the War in Iraq was over.[115][116] On 23 March 2019, ISIL was defeated territorially in Syria after losing the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, after which the group was forced into an insurgency.[117] ISIL's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, died during a US special operations raid in northern Syria in October 2019[118] and was succeeded by Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. The United Nations estimated in August 2020 that over 10,000 ISIL fighters remained in Syria and Iraq, mainly as sleeper cells.[119]