THe RISe and fall of daeSH In IRaq and SyRIa

2004-11

In the chaos following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, an Al Qaeda offshoot sets up there, changing its name in 2006 to Daesh in Iraq.

2011

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi sends operatives in Syria to set up a Syrian subsidiary. Baghdadi follows in 2013, breaking with Al Qaeda and renaming his group as Daesh.

2014

Daesh seizes Fallujah, Raqa, Mosul and Tikrit in June and overrun the border with Syria. At Mosul’s great Mosque, Baghdadi declares a ‘caliphate’.

2015

Militants in Paris attack a satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket, the bloody start to a wave of attacks that Daesh claims around the world.

2016

Iraq takes back Fallujah in June. In August, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG, takes Manbij in Syria.

2017

Daesh loses Mosul. Baghdad declares the end of the caliphate. The Syrian army relieves Deir El Zorr. In October, the SDF drives Daesh from Raqa.

2018

Syria retakes Daesh enclaves in Yarmouk. The SDF advances further down the Euphrates. Iraqi takes the the border region. The US vows to withdraw troops.

2019

Daesh fighters are defeated at their last enclave on the Euphrates at the village of Baghouz. The US-backed SDF declares the ‘caliphate’ eliminated.