Supporters Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

1 supporters

1.1 allegations of state support

1.1.1 saudi arabia
1.1.2 syria
1.1.3 turkey
1.1.4 qatar
1.1.5 united states
1.1.6 foreign nationals
1.1.7 groups expressing support isil


1.2 countries , groups @ war isil
1.3 global coalition counter islamic state of iraq , levant

1.3.1 other state opponents not part of counter-isil coalition
1.3.2 other non-state opponents
1.3.3 al-qaeda

supporters

according june 2015 reuters report cited jihadist ideologues source, 90% of isil s fighters in iraq iraqi, , 70% of fighters in syria syrian. article stated group has 40,000 fighters , 60,000 supporters across 2 primary strongholds in iraq , syria. according scholar fawaz gerges writing in isis: history, 30 percent of senior figures in isil s military command former army , police officers disbanded iraqi security forces, drawn isil de-ba athification policy , turned towards sunni islamism, following invasion of iraq.

according poll pew research center, muslim populations of various countries have overwhelmingly negative views of isis lebanon having unfavorable views. in of these countries, concerns islamic extremism have been growing.

allegations of state support
saudi arabia

although saudi arabia s government rejected claims, former iraqi prime minister nouri al-maliki accused saudi arabia of funding isil. media outlets, such nbc, bbc , new york times, , us-based think tank washington institute near east policy have written individual saudi donations group , saudi state s decade-long sponsorship of wahhabism around world, have concluded there no evidence of direct saudi state support isil.

richard dearlove, former head of britain s secret intelligence service (mi6), said saudis attracted militancy can challenge shia-dom [shia version of islam]. dearlove stated that, isis able surge sunni areas of iraq in way has done has consequence of substantial , sustained funding.

in august 2014 email, leaked wikileaks, former secretary of state hillary clinton sent counselor barack obama john podesta memo states both saudi arabia , qatar providing clandestine financial , logistic support isil , other radical sunni groups in region .

syria

during ongoing syrian civil war, president bashar al-assad, syrian government, , syrian alawite community have been accused many opposition , anti-assad parties of collusion isil, despite massacres of alawite civilians , executions of captured syrian army alawite soldiers. several sources have claimed islamist prisoners strategically released syrian prisons @ beginning of syrian civil war in 2011.

the syrian government has bought oil directly isil, , syrian government , isil jointly run hesco gas plant in tabqah. facility supplies electricity government-held areas, , government-run power plants supply isil-held areas. syrian government has tactically avoided isil forces in order weaken opposition such free syrian army (fsa), , according united states secretary of state john kerry syrian government has purposely ceded territory isil. ihs jane s terrorism , insurgency center database analysis confirmed 6% of syrian government forces attacks targeted @ isil january november 2014, while in same period 13% of isil attacks targeted government forces. national coalition syrian revolutionary , opposition forces has stated syrian government has operatives inside isil, has leadership of ahrar ash-sham. report on 25 june 2015 said isil kept gas flowing assad regime-controlled power stations. furthermore, isil allowed grain pass kurdish-held north-east regime controlled areas @ cost of 25% levy.

on 1 june 2015, united states embassy in syria stated syrian government making air-strikes in support of isil advance on syrian opposition positions north of aleppo. president of syrian national coalition, khaled koja, accused assad of acting air force [isil] , defence minister of snc salim idris stating approximately 180 syrian government officers serving in isil , coordinating group s attacks syrian arab army.

however, in april 2017 report, ihs markit, leading uk security , defense information provider, stated islamic state fought syrian government forces more other opponent between 1 april 2016 , 31 march 2017. according report 43 percent of islamic state fighting in syria directed against president assad’s forces, 17 against u.s.-backed syrian democratic forces (sdf) , remaining 40 percent involved fighting rival sunni opposition groups .

turkey

turkey has been accused experts, syrian kurds, , united states vice-president joe biden of supporting or colluding isil. raid special forces on compound housing islamic state s chief financial officer , abu sayyaf, in july 2015, produced evidence turkish officials dealt directly ranking isil members. according senior western official, documents , flash drives seized during sayyaf raid revealed links clear , undeniable between turkey , isil end having profound policy implications relationship between , ankara .

journalist patrick cockburn wrote in november 2014 of strong evidence degree of collaboration between turkish intelligence services , isil, although exact nature of relationship ... remains cloudy . in july 2014, cockburn stated saudi arabia has created frankenstein s monster on rapidly losing control. same true of allies such turkey has been vital back-base isis , jabhat al-nusra keeping 820-kilometer-long (510 mi) turkish-syrian border open. david l. phillips of columbia university s institute study of human rights, compiled list of allegations , claims accusing turkey of assisting isil, wrote these allegations range military cooperation , weapons transfers logistical support, financial assistance, , provision of medical services . several isil fighters , commanders have claimed turkey supports isil. within turkey itself, isil believed have caused increasing political polarisation between secularists , islamists.

turkey has been further criticised allowing individuals outside region enter territory , join isil in syria. many islamist fighters passing through turkey fight in syria, turkey has been accused of becoming transit country such fighters , has been labelled gateway jihad . turkish border patrol officers reported have deliberately overlooked entering syria, upon payment of small bribe. report sky news exposed documents showing passports of foreign islamists wanting join isil crossing syria had been stamped turkish government. isil commander stated of fighters joined in beginning of war came via turkey, , did our equipment , supplies , adding isil fighters received treatment in turkish hospitals.

qatar

qatar has long been accused of acting conduit flow of funds isil. while there no proof qatari government behind movement of funds gas-rich nation isil, has been criticised not doing enough stem flow of financing. private donors within qatar, sympathetic aims of radical groups such al-nusra front , isil, believed channeling resources support these organisations. according treasury department, number of terrorist financiers have been operating in qatar. qatari citizen abd al-rahman al-nuaimi has served interlocutor between qatari donors , leaders of al-qaeda in iraq (aqi). nuaimi reportedly oversaw transfer of us$2 million per month aqi on period of time. 1 of several of qatar-based al-qaeda financiers sanctioned treasury in recent years. according reports, officials believe largest portion of private donations supporting isis , al qaeda-linked groups comes qatar rather saudi arabia.

in august 2014, german minister gerd müller accused qatar of having links isil, stating: have ask arming, financing isis troops. keyword there qatar. qatari foreign minister khalid bin mohammad al attiyah rejected statement, saying: qatar not support extremist groups, including [isil], in way. repelled views, violent methods , ambitions.

united states

rand paul, junior u.s. senator kentucky, has accused u.s. government of indirectly supporting isil in syrian civil war, arming allies , fighting enemies in country. has assisted moderate syrian opposition (see cia-led timber sycamore operation), whether assistance has been commandeered isis allies remains unclear.

on 12 september 2014, several media outlets began reporting free syrian army had signed non-aggression pact isis in order focus attentions elsewhere. these reports later proved false, opposition soldiers , activists on ground reported continued fighting between 2 groups. according mohammed alaa ghanem, director of government relations syrian american council, report have received on resembling ceasefire isis , sons of golan, fsa brigade outside damascus, halted fighting 24 hours collect bodies before hostilities resumed. fsa commanders declared continue fight until isis eradicated in damascus suburbs. no truce or cease fire isis, said syrian national coalition spokesman monzer abkik.

foreign nationals

a united nations report may 2015 showed 25,000 foreign terrorist fighters 100 countries had joined islamist groups, many of them working isil or al-qaeda. us-trained commander of tajikistan s interior ministry omon police special forces, gulmurod khalimov, has been raised rank of minister of war within islamic state.

the commander islamic state in syria, abu omar al-shishani, served sergeant in georgian army.

a 2015 report program on extremism @ george washington university found 71 individuals charged in united states supporting isil, 250 travelling or attempting travel syria or iraq united states join isil, , 900 active domestic isil-related investigations.

an october 2016 world bank study found isil’s foreign fighters surprisingly well-educated. using fighters self-reported educational levels, study concluded 69% of recruits reported @ least secondary-level education of large fraction have gone on study @ university , 15% of recruits left school before high school; less 2% illiterate. study found foreign fighters more educated countrymen europe , in central asia have similar levels of education countrymen while middle east, north africa, , south , east asia more educated typical in home nations. report notes conclusions terrorism not driven poverty , low levels of education not conform previous research. however, report did find strong correlation between country’s male unemployment rate , propensity of country supply foreign fighters leading report recommend governments pursue policy of lowering unemployment rate among educated counter-terrorism strategy.

groups expressing support isil

the terrorism research , analysis consortium (trac) has identified 60 jihadist groups in 30 countries have pledged allegiance or support isil of mid-november 2014. many of these groups affiliated al-qaeda suggests shift in global jihadist leadership towards isil.

members of following groups have declared support isil, either or in part:

countries , groups @ war isil

a map of state-based opponents of isil

     combined joint task force – operation inherent resolve

     other state based opponents

     territories held isil @ late 2015 peak

isil s claims territory have brought armed conflict many governments, militias , other armed groups. international rejection of isil terrorist entity , rejection of claim exist have placed in conflict countries around world.

the global coalition counter islamic state of iraq , levant


airstrikes in syria 24 september 2014

the global coalition counter islamic state of iraq , levant (isil), referred counter-isil coalition or counter-daesh coalition, us-led group of nations , non-state actors have committed work under common, multifaceted, , long-term strategy degrade , defeat isil/daesh . according joint statement issued 59 national governments , european union on 3 december 2014, participants in counter-isil coalition focused on multiple lines of effort:

operation inherent resolve operational name given military operations against isil , syrian al-qaeda affiliates. combined joint task force – operation inherent resolve (cjtf–oir) co-ordinating military portion of response.

the arab league, european union, nato, , gcc part of counter-isil coalition:

other state opponents not part of counter-isil coalition


the photo of iranian soldier, mohsen hojaji, looks @ camera while isis executioner holding him knife @ hand. situation resembles scene battle of karbala, key event in shia history.

iran – military advisors, training, ground troops, , air power in iraq , syria, beside iranian borders (see iranian intervention in iraq)

russian sukhoi su-34 in syria

russia – arms supplier iraqi , syrian governments. in june 2014, iraqi army received russian sukhoi su-25 , sukhoi su-30 fighter aircraft combat isil. security operations within state borders in 2015. airstrikes in syria (see russian military intervention in syrian civil war).

azerbaijan – security operations within state borders

pakistan – military deployment on saudi arabia-iraq border. arresting isil figures in pakistan.

other non-state opponents

al-qaeda

al-nusra front—with localised truces , co-operation @ times
al-qaeda in arabian peninsula syriac military council
al-qaeda in islamic maghreb
al-shabaab

taliban

hamas

kurdish ypg fighters

kurdistan workers party—ground troops in iraqi kurdistan , in syrian kurdistan

hezbollah

houthis—shia faction in yemen, fighting control of country

al-qaeda

al-nusra front branch of al-qaeda operating in syria. al-nusra has launched many attacks , bombings, against targets affiliated or supportive of syrian government. there have been media reports many of al-nusra s foreign fighters have left join al-baghdadi s isil.

in february 2014, after continued tensions, al-qaeda publicly disavowed relations isil. however, isil , al-nusra front still cooperate each other when fight against syrian government.

the 2 groups [isil , al-nusra] share nihilistic worldview, loathing modernity, , west. subscribe same perverted interpretations of islam. other common traits include penchant suicide attacks, , sophisticated exploitation of internet , social media. isil, several al qaeda franchises interested in taking , holding territory; aqap has been less successful @ it. main differences between al qaeda , isil largely political—and personal. on past decade, al qaeda has twice embraced isil (and previous manifestations) brothers-in-arms.

on 10 september 2015, audio message released al-qaeda s leader ayman al-zawahiri criticising isil s self-proclaimed caliphate , accusing of sedition . described media outlets declaration of war . however, although al-zawahiri denied isil s legitimacy, suggested there still room cooperation against common enemies, , said if in iraq, fight alongside isil.