Islamic State - Statistics & Facts

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, originated as Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999. Originally a group allied to al-Qaeda, the group rose to global prominence during the civil war in Syria and conflicts in Iraq in the early years of the 2010s. As of 2015, the group was responsible for the highest number of terror attacks worldwide by a significant margin. Although ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks outside of the Middle East such as the Paris shootings in November 2015, the tyranny of the Islamic State has been largely concentrated on Iraq, Syria and Libya. The number of terrorist attacks by country shows the devastating effect the activities of ISIS had on Iraq in 2015, with over 2,400 attacks occurring in the country.

The total number of attacks reported by ISIS in 2013, by type of attack, shows that improvised explosive devices were the most prominent form of attack. Given the group’s operation as a terrorist organization, such attacks are common as they require less specialized equipment and install fear in resident populations.

The fear installed in communities is not limited to those countries where ISIS has a significant presence. A number of attacks in the United States linked to ISIS have meant that there is a desire among Americans for the government to combat the threat of ISIS despite the lack of geographic proximity to the group’s primary operations. According to a 2014 survey, 60 percent of American citizens approved of U.S. military action in Iraq and Syria against ISIS. Furthermore, over 80 percent of the American population in 2014 believed that ISIS presented at least an important threat to the vital interests of the United States.

Despite calls from then presidential candidate Donald Trump to remove the revenue streams of ISIS by bombing oil facilities in territories held by the group, oil revenues amounted to less than one tenth of the group’s revenue in 2014. According to the major revenue sources of the Islamic State in 2014 , the vast majority of revenue was obtained through extortion and taxation in Iraq, alongside funds stolen from state-owned banks.

Obviously, disdain for the extremist group is widespread beyond the country the Islamic State see as the leader of a global movement to suppress Islam. Although the group has sought to wage an ideological war in the name of Islam, the extremist kidnapping of the faith the group has committed has lead to the majority of followers of Islam around the world being critical of the group and their chances of success. A survey of youth from 17 Muslim majority countries, including Iraq, showed that more than three quarters of respondents believed ISIS would be unsuccessful in their attempts to establish an Islamic state.