Fighting Islamic State

Islamic State stunned the world when its jihadist fighters swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, conquering large chunks of territory. The proto-state it established in the two countries has collapsed, with the fall of the group’s major strongholds at the end of 2017. But completely defeating Islamic State and like-minded extremists is a larger challenge. The group has repeatedly shown that it can inspire terrorist attacks around the world without orchestrating them from a central headquarters. And like the jihadist group al-Qaeda before it, Islamic State has metastasized beyond its place of origin, with affiliates operating in other parts of the Mideast and in Africa and Asia.

The remaining Islamic State fighters have been pushed into an ever-smaller area along the Iraq-Syria border. They have been overcome by Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes, Iranian-allied militias, Iraqi forces and Syrian rebels supported by a U.S.-led coalition. Islamic State lost control of its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria in October and of Mosul, its most important stronghold in Iraq, three months earlier. The U.S.-led operation against Islamic State, officially engaging more than 60 nations, combines airstrikes with support for local forces fighting the group on the ground. Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has increased air strikes and delegated more authority to the commanders of its several thousand troops in Syria and Iraq. Russia began bombing Islamic State in 2015 in Syria, backing Syrian government forces. Even as Islamic State has lost terrain, it’s become a wider threat, launching or inspiring terrorist attacks in Europe, the U.S. and around the Muslim world. Affiliates of the group have been declared in Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia’s Caucasus region and the Philippines.