THE RISE OF ISLAMIC STATE

Islamic State (IS) is a radical Islamist group, who aims to establish a "caliphate", a state ruled by a single political and religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia, that has seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq. Sworn allegiance to its leader - Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the IS unleased its brutal tactics - including mass killings and abductions of members of religious and ethnic minorities, as well as the beheadings of soldiers and journalists - have sparked fear and outrage across the world and prompted US military intervention, which caused nearly 1.2 million Iraqis forced from their homes and thousands of casualties.

In May, IS kidnapped 140 Kurdish schoolboys in Syria and forced them to take lessons in radical ‘Islamic’ theology. In June, they announced the creation of a caliphate (Islamic state) that ‘erased’ all state borders, making al-Baghdadi the self-declared authority over the world's estimated 1.5 billion Muslims.

Taking control over Syria’s largest oil field, al-Omar, in July, IS confirmed a regular flow of income. al-Omar field can produce 75,000 barrels of oil daily. IS later on the month blew the tomb of Prophet Yunus (pbuh) in Mosul.

Later in August, September, October and November, the IS militants posted several beheading videos on the internet. The videos showed deaths of US journalist James Foley, missing in Syria since 2012, US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, hostage Alan Henning and American aid worker Peter Kassig, also known as Abdul-Rahman Kassig.

Story compiled from: CNN & BBC