Collaboration with the Islamic State

{{Pie chart

|value1 = 43

|color1 = red

|label1 = Syrian army

|value2 = 40

|color2 = green

|label2 = Sunni rebels

|value3 = 17

|color3 = yellow

|label3 = Syrian Dem. Forces

|caption = Proportion of attacks by ISIL on other groups in Syria, during the period from March 2016 – April 2017 according to IHS Markit.{{cite web |title=Study Shows Islamic State's Primary Opponent in Syria Is Government Forces, IHS Markit Says |work=IHS Markit |date=April 19, 2017 |url=https://news.ihsmarkit.com/prviewer/release_only/slug/aerospace-defense-security-study-shows-islamic-states-primary-opponent-syria-governmen}}

}}

During the ongoing Syrian civil war, the Syrian opposition and some analysts had accused President Bashar al-Assad and the Ba'athist regime of strategically releasing Islamist prisoners during the start of the Syrian crisis in an attempt to strengthen jihadist factions over other rebels.{{cite web |last=Speakwell Cordall |first=Simon |date=June 21, 2014 |title=How Syria's Assad Helped Forge ISIS |url=http://www.newsweek.com/how-syrias-assad-helped-forge-isis-255631 |work=Newsweek}}{{cite journal |last1=Neumann |first1=Peter |date=April 3, 2014 |title=LRB · Peter Neumann · Suspects into Collaborators: Assad and the Jihadists |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n07/peter-neumann/suspects-into-collaborators |journal=London Review of Books |volume=36 |issue=7 |access-date=October 29, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Salloum |first=Raniah |date=October 10, 2013 |title=From Jail to Jihad: Former Prisoners Fight in Syrian Insurgency – International |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/former-prisoners-fight-in-syrian-insurgency-a-927158.html |access-date=October 29, 2018 |website=Spiegel}} The Syrian opposition have also accused Assad of having intelligence operatives within the ranks of ISIS,{{cite web |date=April 24, 2014 |title=Has Assad infiltrated rebel forces inside Syria? |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/is-assad-isis-rebel-forces-iraq-syria |access-date=March 8, 2015 |publisher=Channel Four News}} and even directing ISIS attacks.{{cite web |last=Bar'el |first=Zvi |date=June 3, 2015 |title=Assad's cooperation with ISIS could push U.S. into Syria conflict |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.659340 |access-date=June 4, 2015 |work=Haaretz |quote=Salim Idris, defense minister in the rebels' provisional government, said approximately 180 Syrian Army officers are currently serving with ISIS and coordinating the group's military operations with the army.}}{{cite news |last1=Barnard |first1=Anne |date=June 2, 2015 |title=Assad's Forces May Be Aiding New ISIS Surge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/world/middleeast/new-battles-aleppo-syria-insurgents-isis.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416083106/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/world/middleeast/new-battles-aleppo-syria-insurgents-isis.html |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |access-date=June 5, 2015 |work=The New York Times}} However, "despite repeated announcements by opposition figures", there exists "no solid evidence ... that the jihadists as a whole are controlled by the [Syrian] regime.

The Assad government has also been accused of funding ISIL through oil purchases. Western officials stated in 2015 that the Syrian government and ISIS jointly ran a gas plant in Tabqah using intermediates to supply electricity to both Ba'athist and ISIS-held areas.{{cite news |last=Blair |first=David |date=March 7, 2015 |title=Oil middleman between Syria and Isil is new target for EU sanctions |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11455602/Oil-middleman-between-Syria-and-Isil-is-new-target-for-EU-sanctions.html |access-date=March 9, 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}} A report in 2015 suggested that ISIL kept gas flowing to Assad regime-controlled power stations. Furthermore, ISIL allowed grain to pass from Rojava to government-controlled areas at the cost of a 25% levy.{{cite web |last1=Philps |first1=Alan |date=June 25, 2015 |title=Rebels are close to Raqqa – but what happens next? |url=http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/rebels-are-close-to-raqqa--but-what-happens-next |access-date=August 20, 2015 |work=The National |location=Abu Dhabi, UAE}} ISIL defectors interviewed by academics in 2015 and 2016 reported being "disillusioned by... upsetting alliances that included the sale of wheat stores and oil to Assad, oil some of which later found its way into barrel bombs raining down on Syrian civilians."{{cite journal |last1=Speckhard |first1=Anne |last2=Yayla |first2=Ahmet S. |year=2017 |title=The ISIS Emni: Origins and Inner Workings of ISIS's Intelligence Apparatus |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26297733 |journal=Perspectives on Terrorism |publisher=Terrorism Research Institute |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=2–16 |issn=2334-3745 |jstor=26297733 |access-date=September 22, 2023}}{{cite web |date=April 27, 2016 |title=ISIS's Revenues include Sales of Oil to the al-Assad Regime – Icsve |url=https://icsve.org/isiss-revenues-include-sales-of-oil-to-the-al-assad-regime/ |access-date=September 22, 2023 |website=Icsve}} This was confirmed in 2016 in Wall Street Journal reporting of documents extracted by US Special Forces in raids on ISIS operatives.{{cite web |last1=Faucon |first1=Benoit |last2=Coker |first2=Margaret |date=April 24, 2016 |title=The Rise and Deadly Fall of Islamic State's Oil Tycoon |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-rise-and-deadly-fall-of-islamic-states-oil-tycoon-1461522313 |access-date=September 22, 2023 |website=WSJ}} In 2017, US and European officials said that oil sales to the Syrian government were ISIL's largest source of revenue.{{cite web |last=Solomon |first=Feliz |date=January 20, 2017 |title=Oil and Gas Sales to Assad Are Now ISIS' Largest Source of Funds |url=https://fortune.com/2017/01/20/oil-gas-isis-syria-assad/ |access-date=2020-09-24 |website=Fortune}}{{cite web |last1=Faucon |first1=Benoit |last2=Omran |first2=Ahmed Al |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Islamic State Steps Up Oil and Gas Sales to Assad Regime |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-steps-up-oil-and-gas-sales-to-assad-regime-1484835563 |access-date=2020-09-24 |website=WSJ}}

An unpublished IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center database analysis showed that only 6% of Syrian government forces attacks were targeted at ISIL from January to November 2014, while in the same period only 13% of all ISIL attacks targeted government forces.{{cite news |last1=Vinograd |first1=Cassandra |last2=Omar |first2=Ammar Cheikh |date=December 11, 2014 |title=Syria, ISIS Have Been 'Ignoring' Each Other on Battlefield, Data Suggests |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/syria-isis-have-been-ignoring-each-other-battlefield-data-suggests-n264551 |access-date=March 9, 2015 |publisher=NBC}} Academics who interviewed ISIL defectors in 2015–16 said their interviewees "observed regime forces strangely giving up territory to ISIS without much of a fight, and even leaving their weapons for ISIS rather than destroying them." Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi had disputed such assertions in 2014, arguing that "ISIS has a record of fighting the regime on multiple fronts", many rebel factions have engaged in oil sales to the Syrian regime because it is "now largely dependent on Iraqi oil imports via Lebanese and Egyptian third-party intermediaries", and while "the regime is focusing its airstrikes [on areas] where it has some real expectations of advancing" claims that it "has not hit ISIS strongholds" are "untrue". He concluded: "Attempting to prove an ISIS-regime conspiracy without any conclusive evidence is unhelpful, because it draws attention away from the real reasons why ISIS grew and gained such prominence: namely, rebel groups tolerated ISIS."{{cite web |last=Al-Tamimi |first=Aymenn Jawad |date=February 11, 2014 |title=The Assad Regime and Jihadis: Collaborators and Allies? |url=http://www.meforum.org/3786/assad-jihadis-collaborators-allies |access-date=March 8, 2015 |publisher=Middle East Forum}} Similarly, Max Abrahms and John Glaser stated in the Los Angeles Times in December 2017 that "The evidence of Assad sponsoring Islamic State... was about as strong as for Saddam Hussein sponsoring Al Qaeda".{{cite web |last1=Abrahms |first1=Max |last2=Glaser |first2=John |date=December 10, 2017 |title=The pundits were wrong about Assad and the Islamic State. As usual, they're not willing to admit it |url=http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-abrahms-glaser-isis-assad-20171210-story.html |access-date=January 11, 2018 |work=Los Angeles Times}} According to an April 2017 IHS Markit report, ISIS fought Syrian government forces more than any other opponent between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017: "43 percent of all Islamic State fighting in Syria was directed against President Assad's forces, 17 against the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the remaining 40 percent involved fighting rival Sunni opposition groups".

{{see also|Hamas government in the Gaza Strip|Sinai insurgency #In the Gaza Strip|Public diplomacy of Israel|Israeli public diplomacy in the Israel–Hamas war}}

Israeli public officials often accused the Palestinian government in Gaza (led by designated terrorist organization, Hamas) of collaborating with, or resembling ISIS. "Hamas is ISIS" was first asserted by Benjamin Netanyahu near the end of the 2014 Gaza War.{{cite news |author1=Larry Derfner |date=24 August 2014 |title=No, Hamas isn't ISIS, ISIS isn't Hamas |url=https://www.972mag.com/no-hamas-isnt-isis-isis-isnt-hamas/ |access-date=9 October 2024 |work=+972 Magazine |quote=… if anybody accuses me of defending Hamas in what I’m about to write, I accuse them in turn of supporting the war in Gaza because they enjoy seeing Palestinian children killed. One claim is as fair as the other.}} The comparison was criticized and mocked by some Israeli journalists.{{Cite web |last=Reider |first=Dimi |date=2014-08-21 |title=Netanyahu tweets Foley execution shot to score points against Hamas |url=https://www.972mag.com/netanyahu-tweets-foley-execution-video-to-score-points-against-hamas/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}} Netanyahu followed this by saying, “Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas”, in a 2014 speech at the United Nations. https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/why-its-dangerous-to-conflate-hamas-and-daesh/ In reference to this, the head of the Department of Political Science at Hebron University, {{Cite web |title=Belal Shobaki |url=https://al-shabaka.org/authors/belal-shobaki/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Al-Shabaka |language=en-US}} said it was "dangerous" to conflate Hamas and ISIS. Israeli journalists pointed out that Hamas more closely resemble the Irgun and Lehi https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2016-05-02/ty-article/.premium/hamas-and-the-irgun-how-dare-i-compare-the-two/0000017f-f73b-d318-afff-f77bf9ca0000 {{Cite web |last=Derfner |first=Larry |date=2014-08-24 |title=No, Hamas isn’t ISIS, ISIS isn’t Hamas |url=https://www.972mag.com/no-hamas-isnt-isis-isis-isnt-hamas/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}} more closely than Hamas resemble ISIS. {{Cite web |last=Derfner |first=Larry |date=2014-08-24 |title=No, Hamas isn’t ISIS, ISIS isn’t Hamas |url=https://www.972mag.com/no-hamas-isnt-isis-isis-isnt-hamas/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}}

Occasionally Egyptian public officials have accused Hamas of assisting ISIS in the Sinai, but in public the two groups had a violently hostile relationship. https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-guard-killed-in-suicide-bombing-at-gaza-border/ {{cite web |date=4 January 2018 |title=Islamic State in Sinai declares war on Hamas in gruesome execution video |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-in-sinai-declares-war-on-hamas-in-gruesome-execution-video/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241009080825/https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-state-in-sinai-declares-war-on-hamas-in-gruesome-execution-video/ |archive-date=2024-10-09 |website=The Times of Israel}} {{Cite news |date=2019-08-28 |title=Gaza explosions: 'Suicide bombers' kill three police officers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49491516 |access-date=2024-11-20 |language=en-GB}} Israeli Major General Yoav “Polly” Mordechai also accused people in Gaza of helping ISIS by providing medical care to people wounded in the Sinai conflict. {{Cite web |last=Omer-Man |first=Michael Schaeffer |date=2015-07-05 |title=Why is Israel concocting ties between Hamas and ISIS? |url=https://www.972mag.com/why-israel-is-concocting-ties-between-hamas-and-isis/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=+972 Magazine |language=en-US}} However, medical ethics and international law supports providing treatment for all wounded, including irregular combatants.{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Michael |date=2009-10-13 |title=Terrorists are Just Patients |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265160903167138 |journal=The American Journal of Bioethics |volume=9 |issue=10 |pages=56–57 |doi=10.1080/15265160903167138 |issn=1526-5161 |pmid=19998092 |quote=There is nothing in the Convention that forbids governments from so treating them. One advantage of so treating terrorists is being able to hold them until the end of hostilities.}}

In the first days following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and start of the Gaza War, The Jerusalem Post quoted Benjamin Netanyahu saying, “They are savages. Hamas is ISIS”, the article then highlighted some alleged similarities in the groups' influences identified by Dr. Harel Chorev (from the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University). {{Cite web |date=2023-10-10 |title='Hamas is ISIS': Here's how we know |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-767627 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}} Netanyahu included this assertion in a public addresses in the United States made alongside Secretary Antony J. Blinken, in the first week of the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip. {{Cite web |title=Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu After Their Meeting |url=https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-after-their-meeting-2/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}} Netanyahu said, "Hamas is ISIS, and just as ISIS was crushed, so too will Hamas be crushed". {{Cite web |title=Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu After Their Meeting |url=https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-after-their-meeting-2/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=United States Department of State |language=en}}

International military experts and mainstream international media pointed out major differences, particularly relating to nationalism, Shia Islam, Christianity, democracy, and destruction of cultural heritage.{{cite journal |author1=Christopher Anzalone |date=December 2023 |title=Excommunicating Hamas Why Differences between Globalist and Nationalist Armed Islamist Groups Matter |url=https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Marine-Corps-University-Press/MES-Publications/MES-Insights/Excommunicating-Hamas/ |journal=MES Insights |publisher=www.usmcu.edu Marine Corps University - Middle East Studies |volume=14 |issue=6 |issn=2831-2872 |access-date=25 November 2024}}{{Cite web |date=2023-11-29 |title=Israel likens Hamas to the Islamic State group. But the comparison misses the mark in key ways |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-war-islamic-state-group-29e59446a42d077323a3a216127c4978 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=AP News |language=en}} {{Cite web |last=Marks |first=Monica |date=2023-10-30 |title=Hamas Is Not ISIS. Here's Why That Matters |url=https://time.com/6329776/hamas-isis-gaza/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=TIME |language=en}} https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/21/hamas-isis-are-not-the-same-00128107 ISIS want a purely theocratic system of government without any element of democracy, and ISIS violently attack Christians, whereas Hamas participated in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election and the Hamas-led electoral list that won the election included a Palestinian Christian running for the Christian reserved seat in Gaza City. {{Cite web |title=Christian candidate on Hamas ticket |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2006/1/25/christian-candidate-on-hamas-ticket |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} {{Cite web |date=2006-01-24 |title=Hamas boosts image by backing Christian candidate |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/hamas-boosts-image-by-backing-christian-candidate |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}} Talal Abu Zarifa, a leader from the DFLP (a secular faction allied to Hamas), said Israel was using the comparison to "justify its annihilation of Palestinian people and bloodshed". {{Cite web |title=Israel likens Hamas to Daesh/ISIS to justify its crimes: Left-wing Palestinian leader |url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-likens-hamas-to-daesh-isis-to-justify-its-crimes-left-wing-palestinian-leader/3032556 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.aa.com.tr}}

A few commentators pointed out some commonalities, such as that both are on the list of designated terrorist groups in the United States,{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Brian Glyn |date=2023-12-14 |title=Is Hamas the same as ISIS, the Islamic State group? No − and yes |url=https://theconversation.com/is-hamas-the-same-as-isis-the-islamic-state-group-no-and-yes-219454 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}} and United Kingdom, {{Cite web |title=#HamasisISIS?: Assessing the campaign comparing proscribed groups |url=https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/hamasisisis-assessing-the-campaign-comparing-proscribed-groups/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=ISD |language=en-GB}} but still stressed the groups' very different ideological goals. Only a few sources agreed that Hamas and ISIS are comparable. {{Cite web |last=Zinman |first=Dr Galit Truman |date=2023-10-31 |title=Hamas Is ISIS |url=https://besacenter.org/is-hamas-equal-to-isis/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies |language=en-US}} {{Cite AV media |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2024/01/17/exp-hamas-isis-comparison-chance-pkg-011702aseg2-cnni-world.cnn |title=How Hamas’ tactics appear to mirror ISIS {{!}} CNN |date=2024-01-17 |language=en |access-date=2025-03-20 |via=www.cnn.com}}

The Turkish government has been criticised for allowing ISIL to use Turkish territory for logistics and channelling recruits.{{cite news |last=Phillips |first=David L. |date=September 11, 2014 |title=Research Paper: ISIS-Turkey Links |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/research-paper-isis-turke_b_6128950.html?guccounter=1&sessionId=3_cc-session_34624b36-7f11-45b5-8ccd-691fd2c5d974&lang=en-US&inline=false |access-date=September 8, 2016 |work=Huffington Post}}{{cite news |last=Bodette |first=Meghan |date=September 9, 2018 |title=ISIS intelligence figure captured by YPG: "things were facilitated by Turkish intelligence" |url=https://theregion.org/article/13096-isis-intelligence-figure-captured-by-ypg-quot-things-were-facilitated-by-turkish-intelligence-quot |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427110155/https://theregion.org/article/13096-isis-intelligence-figure-captured-by-ypg-quot-things-were-facilitated-by-turkish-intelligence-quot |archive-date=April 27, 2021 |access-date=August 29, 2019 |work=The Region}}{{cite news |last=Graeber |first=David |author-link=David Graeber |date=November 18, 2015 |title=Turkey could cut off Islamic State's supply lines. So why doesn't it? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/18/turkey-cut-islamic-state-supply-lines-erdogan-isis |access-date=August 29, 2019 |newspaper=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited}} It has also been accused of selling arms and intelligence to ISIL, as part of its campaign against the People's Protection Units (YPG).{{cite news |last=Zaman |first=Amberin |date=June 10, 2014 |title=Syrian Kurds continue to blame Turkey for backing ISIS militants |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/ru/originals/2014/06/zaman-syria-kurds-rojava-ypg-muslim-pyd-pkk-turkey-isis.html |access-date=May 13, 2016 |work=Al-Monitor}}{{cite news |last=Wilgenburg |first=Wladimir van |date=August 6, 2014 |title=Kurdish security chief: Turkey must end support for jihadists |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/syria-kurd-pyd-asayish-isis-turkey-islamic-state.html |access-date=May 13, 2016 |work=Al-Monitor}}{{cite journal |last=Cockburn |first=Patrick |date=November 6, 2014 |title=Whose side is Turkey on? |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n21/patrick-cockburn/whose-side-is-turkey-on |journal=London Review of Books |volume=36 |issue=21 |pages=8–10 |access-date=August 29, 2019}}{{cite news |last=Norton |first=Ben |date=June 30, 2016 |title=Turkey's "double game" on ISIS and support for extremist groups highlighted after horrific Istanbul attack |url=https://www.salon.com/2016/06/30/turkeys_double_game_on_isis_and_support_for_extremist_groups_highlighted_after_horrific_istanbul_attack/ |access-date=August 29, 2019 |work=Salon.com}} That ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Syrian hideout was found just a few kilometers away from Turkey also raised suspicions whether Turkey was doing enough against ISIL.{{Cite web |last1=Ünker |first1=Pelin |last2=Bellut |first2=Daniel |date=November 5, 2019 |title=Turkey and 'Islamic State' — is Ankara doing enough? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-and-islamic-state-is-ankara-doing-enough/a-51127222 |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=en-GB}} Iraqi intelligence officers also claimed that they have observed several journeys by relatives of Al Baghdadi between Syria and Turkey.{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Jack |date=November 6, 2019 |title=Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi's brother travelled in and out of Istanbul as his courier for months |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/mena/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-s-brother-travelled-in-and-out-of-istanbul-as-his-courier-for-months-1.933814 |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=The National |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Chulov |first=Martin |date=October 27, 2019 |title=Nowhere left to run: how the US finally caught up with Isis leader Baghdadi |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/27/nowhere-left-to-run-how-the-us-finally-caught-up-with-isis-leader-baghdadi |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Turkey denies the allegations of assisting ISIL, pointing to multiple terrorist attacks ISIL has committed against civilians in Turkey, as well as multiple military confrontations between ISIL and the Turkish government. The Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iraq similarly deny the claim that Turkey is providing aid to ISIL. According to an intelligence adviser quoted by Seymour Hersh, a "highly classified assessment" carried out by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2013 concluded that Turkey had effectively transformed the secret U.S. arms program in support of moderate rebels, who no longer existed, into an indiscriminate program to provide technical and logistical support for al-Nusra Front and ISIL.{{cite journal |last=Hersh |first=Seymour Hersh |date=January 7, 2016 |title=Military to Military |url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n01/seymour-m-hersh/military-to-military |journal=London Review of Books |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=11–14 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}

{{Main|United States and state-sponsored terrorism}}

Rand Paul, a junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky, has accused the U.S. government of indirectly supporting ISIL in the Syrian Civil War, by arming their allies and fighting their enemies in that country.{{cite news |last1=Shabad |first1=Rebeca |date=June 22, 2014 |title=Paul: ISIS emboldened after US armed its allies in Syria |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/210168-us-has-been-arming-isis-in-syria-sen-paul-claims/ |work=The Hill}} After the September 2016 Deir ez-Zor air raid in which U.S led coalition air strikes reportedly killed at least 62 Syrian Arab army soldiers fighting against ISIS, Russia and Syria accused the U.S government of intentionally providing ISIS with air support. The U.S government denied the accusations and called the air strikes an accident caused by misidentification of SAA ground forces as ISIL fighters.{{cite web |last1=Almasy |first1=Steve |last2=Starr |first2=Barbara |last3=Roth |first3=Richard |date=September 17, 2016 |title=Russia: Coalition strike kills Syrian forces |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/17/middleeast/syria-claims-coalition-airstrike-hit-regime-forces/index.html |access-date=September 18, 2016 |publisher=CNN}}{{cite news |date=September 18, 2016 |title=Syria conflict: US air strikes 'kill dozens of government troops' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37398721 |access-date=September 18, 2016 |work=BBC News}} Donald Trump has claimed that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "[were] the founder[s] of ISIS".{{Cite web |last=Pager |first=Tyler |date=October 8, 2016 |title=Trump: Obama 'is the founder of ISIS' |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-obama-clinton-founded-isis-226893 |access-date=2020-12-15 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} The White House did not comment on Trump's accusation.{{cite web |date=August 11, 2016 |title=Donald Trump accuses Obama of being ‘founder of ISIL’ |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/8/11/donald-trump-accuses-obama-of-being-founder-of-isil |website=aljazeera}}

Former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai also claimed ISIS is a tool of the United States. He also asserted he can't differentiate the US and ISIS.{{Cite web |date=April 21, 2017 |title=War in Afghanistan: Former President Hamid Karzai Claims There Is No Difference Between ISIS and America |url=http://www.newsweek.com/hamid-karzai-us-afghanistan-isis-taliban-russia-587031 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421105418/http://www.newsweek.com/hamid-karzai-us-afghanistan-isis-taliban-russia-587031 |archive-date=2017-04-21 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Newsweek}}{{Cite web |date=January 4, 2019 |title=US aids ISIS, says Afghanistan's former president {{!}} Fox News |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-aids-isis-says-afghanistans-former-president |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104072828/https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-aids-isis-says-afghanistans-former-president |archive-date=2019-01-04 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Fox News}} On June 13, 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the 2024 independent presidential candidate of the US presidential election, said during his foreign policy program speech: "We created ISIS".{{cite web |last1=Novelo |first1=Allison |title=RFK Jr. offers foreign policy views on Ukraine, Israel, vows to halve military spending |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-foreign-policy-views-ukraine-israel-military-spending/ |access-date=June 13, 2024 |website=CBS News}}

{{Main|State-sponsored terrorism #Saudi Arabia}}

{{See also|Response of Saudi Arabia to the Islamic State|Salafi movement|Wahhabism}}

In June 2014, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the government of Saudi Arabia of funding ISIL.{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ned |last2=Ireland |first2=Louise |date=March 9, 2014 |title=Iraqi PM Maliki says Saudi, Qatar openly funding violence in Anbar |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-saudi-qatar-idUSBREA2806S20140309 |work=Reuters}} The Saudi Arabian government rejected the claims.{{cite news |last=Black |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Black (journalist) |date=June 19, 2014 |title=Saudi Arabia rejects Iraqi accusations of Isis support |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/19/saudi-arabia-rejects-iraqi-accusations-isis-support |access-date=June 19, 2014 |work=The Guardian}}

Some media outlets, such as NBC, the BBC, The New York Times, and the US-based think tank Washington Institute for Near East Policy have written about individual Saudi donations to the group and the Saudi state's decade-long sponsorship of Salafism and Wahhabism around the world, but concluded in 2014 that there was no evidence of direct Saudi state support for ISIL.{{cite news |last=Husain |first=Ed |date=August 22, 2014 |title=ISIS Atrocities Started With Saudi Support For Salafi Hate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/23/opinion/isis-atrocities-started-with-saudi-support-for-salafi-hate.html |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last=Boghardt |first=Lori Plotkin |date=June 23, 2014 |title=Saudi Funding of ISIS |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/saudi-funding-of-isis |publisher=Washington Institute}}

In an August 2014 email leaked in the Podesta emails, apparently from former US Secretary of the United States Hillary Clinton to then counselor John Podesta, a memo states that the governments of both Saudi Arabia and Qatar "are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region."{{cite news |last1=Schwartz |first1=Mattathias |date=October 13, 2016 |title=Hillary Clinton acknowledges Saudi terror financing in hacked email, hinting at tougher approach |url=https://theintercept.com/2016/10/12/hillary-clinton-acknowledges-saudi-terror-financing-in-hacked-email-hinting-at-tougher-approach/ |work=The Intercept}}{{cite news |last=McKernan |first=Bethan |date=October 11, 2016 |title=Hillary Clinton 'thinks Saudi Arabia funds Isis', leaked document claims |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/hillary-clinton-emails-leak-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-qatar-isis-podesta-latest-a7355466.html |access-date=October 29, 2018 |website=The Independent}}{{cite news |date=December 8, 2016 |title=Boris Johnson's Saudi Arabia comments slapped down by PM but Hillary Clinton, German intelligence and the UN expressed similar views |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/boris-johnsons-saudi-arabia-comments-slapped-down-by-pm-but-hillary-clinton-german-intelligence-and-the-un-expressed-similar-views-35279794.html |access-date=October 29, 2018 |website=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk}}

Lebanese former minister Charbel Wehbe also accused Saudi Arabia of supporting ISIL.{{Cite web |last1=Bassam |first1=Laila |last2=El Dahan |first2=Maha |date=May 18, 2021 |editor-last=Birsel |editor-first=Robert |title=Lebanese president seeks to avert crisis with Gulf over minister's comments |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanon-ministers-remarks-gulf-draw-criticism-pm-designate-2021-05-18/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326041953/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanon-ministers-remarks-gulf-draw-criticism-pm-designate-2021-05-18/ |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |access-date=2021-08-13 |website=Reuters |language=en}}

{{see also|Qatar and state-sponsored terrorism}}

Qatar has long been accused of acting as a conduit for the flow of funds to ISIL. While there is no proof that the Qatari government is involved in this movement of funds, it has been criticised for not doing enough to stem money sent by private donors in the country.{{cite web |last=Boghardt |first=Lori Plotkin |date=August 31, 2014 |title=Qatar and ISIS Funding: The U.S. Approach |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/qatar-and-isis-funding-the-u.s.-approach |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=The Washington Institute}}{{cite web |date=September 1, 2014 |title=Islamic State: Where does jihadist group get its support? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29004253 |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=BBC}} According to some reports, US officials believe that the largest portion of private donations supporting ISIS and al Qaeda-linked groups now comes from Qatar rather than Saudi Arabia.{{Cite magazine |last=Boghardt |first=Lori Plotkin |date=October 6, 2014 |title=Qatar Is a U.S. Ally. They Also Knowingly Abet Terrorism. What's Going On? |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/119705/why-does-qatar-support-known-terrorists |access-date=2023-06-26 |magazine=The New Republic |issn=0028-6583}}

In August 2014, German minister Gerd Müller accused Qatar of having links to ISIL, stating: "You have to ask who is arming, who is financing ISIS troops. The keyword there is Qatar." Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah rejected this statement, saying: "Qatar does not support extremist groups, including [ISIL], in any way. We are repelled by their views, their violent methods and their ambitions."{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Michelle |last2=McDowall |first2=Angus |last3=Bakr |first3=Amena |date=August 20, 2014 |editor-last=Heinrich |editor-first=Mark |title=German minister accuses Qatar of funding Islamic State fighters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-germany-qatar-idUSKBN0GK1I720140820 |access-date=May 8, 2015 |work=Reuters}}{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=Guy |date=December 10, 2014 |title=Qatar allows money to flow to Islamic State, other terrorists: report |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/10/qatar-allows-money-flow-isis-other-terrorists-repo/?page=all |access-date=May 8, 2015 |website=The Washington Times}}{{cite web |date=December 23, 2014 |title=Who funds ISIS? Qatar and state-sponsoring allegations |url=http://securityobserver.org/who-funds-isis-qatar-and-state-sponsoring-allegations/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603174306/http://securityobserver.org/who-funds-isis-qatar-and-state-sponsoring-allegations/ |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |access-date=May 8, 2015 |website=Security Observer}}{{cite web |date=August 24, 2014 |title=Qatar denies backing Islamic State group |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/qatar-denies-backing-islamic-state-group-201482323351451942.html |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}

{{see also|Israel and state-sponsored terrorism}}

The Syrian government and Iranian officials have accused Israel and the United States government of supporting ISIS by attacking Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army as well as arming and giving medical attention to the Islamic State.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=September 25, 2019 |title=Iran's president says Israel 'undoubtedly' backing Islamic State in Syria |work=Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-president-says-israel-undoubtedly-backing-islamic-state-in-syria/amp/}}{{cite magazine |last=Baker |first=Aryn |date=July 19, 2014 |title=Why Iran Believes the Militant Group ISIS Is an American Plot |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/2992269/isis-is-an-american-plot-says-iran/?amp=true |access-date=December 9, 2023}} In 2017, the Syrian Army claimed it found Israeli made artillery pieces at ISIL hideouts.{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2017 |title=Syrian army claims to find Israeli-made weapons in IS hideouts |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/syrian-army-finds-israeli-made-weapons-in-is-hideouts-507668 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en}} Israel strongly denied accusations of providing arms and medical support to ISIS.{{cite news |last=Ahronheim |first=Anna |date=April 13, 2017 |title=Syrian representative to the UN: Israel has directly supported ISIS |url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Syrian-representative-to-the-UN-Israel-has-directly-supported-ISIS-486865 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}

{{Main|Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism}}

Former President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan for supporting ISIS during interview with ANI that Afghanistan has evidence of Pakistan's support to ISIS. He added that there is no doubt to the above statement.{{Cite web|title=No doubt on Pakistan's role in supporting ISIS: Hamid Karzai – ANI News – YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVM1FHzamSg&feature=youtu.be|access-date=2020-08-28|website=www.youtube.com}}

Pakistan has strenuously denied accusations of providing arms and medical support to Islamic State fighters,{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} despite medical ethics and international law supporting the provision of medical care for all wounded, including irregular combatants.{{Cite journal | url = http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265160903167138 | last = Davis | first = Michael | date = 2009-10-13 | title = Terrorists are Just Patients | journal = The American Journal of Bioethics | volume = 9 | issue = 10 | pages = 56–57 | doi = 10.1080/15265160903167138 | pmid = 19998092 | issn = 1526-5161 | quote = There is nothing in the Convention that forbids governments from so treating them. One advantage of so treating terrorists is being able to hold them until the end of hostilities. }}

{{see also| First Geneva Convention }}

Medical ethics and international law supports providing treatment for all wounded, including irregular combatants.{{Cite journal | url = http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15265160903167138 | last = Davis | first = Michael | date = October 13, 2009 | title = Terrorists are Just Patients | journal = The American Journal of Bioethics | language=en | volume = 9 | issue=10 | pages=56–57 | doi = 10.1080/15265160903167138 | pmid = 19998092 | issn=1526-5161 | quote = There is nothing in the Convention that forbids governments from so treating them. One advantage of so treating terrorists is being able to hold them until the end of hostilities. }}

Serious concerns have been raised about the implications of penalizing medical workers or organizations for providing medical care to people who have been categorized as terrorists, "...counterterrorism policies reject the fundamental premises on which the IHL protections for the wounded and sick are based".{{cite news | title = 6 – Conclusion | url = https://pilac.law.harvard.edu/mcac-report//6-conclusion | access-date=October 22, 2024 |work=HLS PILAC | date = August 24, 2015 | location = Harvard University, United States |language=en}}

{{Main articles|Islamic State}}

{{Further information|Territory of the Islamic State|Human rights in Islamic State-controlled territory|Al-Barakah (Islamic State administrative district)}}{{See also|Syrian civil war|War in Iraq (2013–2017)}}

At its peak in 2015, the Islamic State governed approximately eight million people within a territory of around 90,000 square kilometres spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.{{Cite journal |last=Bamber |first=Matthew |date=2021 |title='Without Us, There Would Be No Islamic State:' The Role of Civilian Employees in the Caliphate |url= |journal=CTC Sentinel |volume=14 |issue=9 |page=32}} The group sought to establish a state-like structure, mirroring other sovereign nation-states in the Middle East. It did so by creating various governing institutions, including ministries and offices responsible for healthcare, education, the economy, and security. This served not only to consolidate its authority over the region but also to gain acceptance and support from the local population by addressing grievances and improving living conditions that had been neglected by the previous Syrian and Iraqi governments.{{Cite journal |last=Günther |first=Christoph |last2=Kaden |first2=Tom |year=2016 |title=Beyond Mere Terrorism: The Islamic State's Authority as a Social Movement and as a Quasi-State |journal=Sicherheit und Frieden (S+F) / Security and Peace |volume=34 |issue=2 |page=137}}

Matthew Bamber roughly estimates that approximately 22,000 civilian employees worked for ISIL at some point, categorising them into muba’yain, those who had pledged allegiance to ISIL, and munasirin, those who worked for ISIL without formally pledging their allegiance.{{Cite journal |last=Bamber |first=Matthew |title='Without Us, There Would Be No Islamic State:' The Role of Civilian Employees in the Caliphate |journal=CTC Sentinel |publication-date=2021 |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=32-34}} He argues that this distinction is important, as the counterterrorism community often treats ISIL’s affiliates as a single homogeneous group, failing to recognise that some individuals employed by ISIL were unaware of their employer’s identity due to the sudden regime takeover.{{Cite journal |last=Bamber |first=Matthew |date=2021 |title='Without Us, There Would Be No Islamic State:' The Role of Civilian Employees in the Caliphate |journal=CTC Sentinel |volume=14 |issue=9 |page=36}} In certain cases, civilian employees faced the threat of lethal retaliation against themselves or their families if they attempted to resign. Furthermore, he questions whether local employees who continued their work after ISIL’s takeover should be punished simply for maintaining their jobs, even if their salaries were paid by the Islamic State.

In her book A Landscape of War, Munira Khayyat takes this argument further, asserting that people living amidst war defy its political and military outcomes by finding ways to live with its realities, which is, according to her, a form of resistance in its own right.{{Cite book |last=Khayyat |first=Munira |title=A Landscape of War: Ecologies of Resistance and Survival in South Lebanon |publisher=University of California Press |year=2022 |edition=1st |location=Bielefeld |page=137}} From this perspective, one could argue that Syrians and Iraqis who lived and worked under ISIL’s rule without pledging allegiance to the group were not necessarily collaborators but, in fact, engaged in a form of resistance. ISIL sought to establish an Islamic society governed by Islamic law, Sharia, in which its subjects would not only submit to its authority but actively embrace and uphold its rule.

{{Quote box|width=255px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|"Do I regret it? I don't know if I'd use that word. They had become the government and we now worked for them. We wanted to work so we could get paid."|source=Suleiman al-Afari, Iraqi scientist who helped ISIL in producing chemical weapons {{small|(sentenced to death at the time of the interview)}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/exclusive-iraqi-scientist-says-he-helped-isis-make-chemical-weapons/2019/01/21/617cb8f0-0d35-11e9-831f-3aa2c2be4cbd_story.html |title=Exclusive: Iraqi scientist says he helped ISIS make chemical weapons |author=Joby Warrick |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=January 21, 2019 |access-date=February 14, 2019}} }}

Between 2014 and 2019, the Islamic State undertook an extensive state-building project but soon realised that it could not rely solely on its local and foreign members, as they lacked the necessary expertise and competencies to implement such an endeavour. Consequently, ISIL recruited former Ba’ath Party members and Iraqi military officers, recognising their experience in state-building and the provision of essential services. This decision was made despite ISIL’s hostility towards these former officials of Saddam Hussein’s secular-nationalist government, as their skills were deemed crucial for consolidating ISIL’s political and military authority over its newly acquired territory.{{Cite journal |last=Günther |first=Christoph |last2=Kaden |first2=Tom |date=2016 |title=Beyond Mere Terrorism: The Islamic State's Authority as a Social Movement and as a Quasi-State |journal=Sicherheit und Frieden (S+F) / Security and Peace |volume=34 |issue=2 |page=135}}

At the same time, these former Ba’athists sought to regain control over the newly established Shia-dominated Iraqi government, which had replaced the Sunni-led administration under Hussein. Even though their ideological vision clashed with that of ISIL, they were willing to collaborate with the jihadist group as a means of advancing their own political ambitions. This alliance contributed to atrocities such as the Camp Speicher Massacre in Iraq, where 57 members of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region participated in the execution of at least 1,566 Shia cadets from the Iraqi Air Force on June 12, 2014.{{cite web |date=September 10, 2014 |title=ISIS, Saddam's men or a third party who killed 1700 soldiers in camp Speicher in Iraq? |url=http://arabic.cnn.com/middleeast/2014/09/10/iraq-speicher-massacre |access-date=May 13, 2016 |publisher=CNN Arabic |language=ar}}{{cite web |title=New Secrets are revealed about the Speicher massacre in Iraq |url=http://new.elfagr.org/Detail.aspx?nwsId=689051 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913080432/http://new.elfagr.org/Detail.aspx?nwsId=689051 |archive-date=September 13, 2014 |access-date=May 13, 2016 |website=Al Fajr |language=ar}}

Sunni Arabs in Iraq have been accused of collaborating with ISIL against Assyrians, and Yazidis, and Shias. ISIL marked Christian homes with the letter nūn for Naṣārā{{cite news |date=August 7, 2014 |title=Iraqi Christians flee after Isis issue Mosul ultimatum |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724045752/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28381455 |archive-date=July 24, 2014 |access-date=May 13, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Loveluck |first=Louisa |date=August 7, 2014 |title=Christians flee Iraq's Mosul after Islamists tell them: convert, pay or die |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10977698/Christians-flee-Iraqs-Mosul-after-Islamists-tell-them-convert-pay-or-die.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730003543/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10977698/Christians-flee-Iraqs-Mosul-after-Islamists-tell-them-convert-pay-or-die.html |archive-date=July 30, 2014 |access-date=May 13, 2016}} and Shia homes with the letter rāʾ for Rāfiḍa, a derogatory term used to describe Shias by some Sunni Muslims. Properties were confiscated and given to local ISIL supporters or foreign fighters.{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/19/iraq-isis-abducting-killing-expelling-minorities |title=Iraq: ISIS Abducting, Killing, Expelling Minorities |date=July 19, 2014 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=May 13, 2016}} Local Sunnis were reported to have betrayed Yazidis once ISIL arrived, or colluded in advance to lure them into staying put until the ISIL invaded.{{cite news |last=Ahmed |first=Azam |title=For Yazidis Betrayed by Arab Neighbors, 'It Will Never Be the Same' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/27/world/middleeast/iraq-isis-yazidis-kurds-sunni-arabs.html |date=August 27, 2014 |work=New York Times |access-date=May 13, 2016}}

In response to the effort to take Raqqa by the Syrian Democratic Forces, whose main component is the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), some Syrian Arabs in Raqqa sided with the Islamic State.{{cite news |last=Wedeman |first=Ben |title=ISIS or Kurds? Arabs wonder which is worse |publisher=CNN |date=May 25, 2016 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/25/middleeast/raqqa-syria-isis-kurds-arabs/index.html |access-date=October 29, 2018}}

The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) has identified 60 jihadist groups in 30 countries that have pledged allegiance to or support for ISIL as of mid-November 2014. That many of these groups were previously affiliated with al-Qaeda suggests a shift in global jihadist leadership towards ISIL.{{cite news |first=Riyadh |last=Mohammed |url=http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2014/11/16/ISIS-Doubles-Down-Infidels-Boosted-60-New-Terror-Groups#sthash.eYktEthB.dpuf |title=ISIS Beheads Another American As 60 New Terror Groups Join |work=The Fiscal Times |date=November 16, 2014 |access-date=November 28, 2014}}

Members of the following groups have declared support for ISIL, either fully or in part:

{{colbegin}}

• Boko Haram (until 2016){{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/isis-accepts-boko-haram-pledge-says-would-be-recruits-can-go-to-nigeria-1.2993474 |title=ISIS accepts Boko Haram pledge, says would-be recruits can go to Nigeria |date=March 13, 2015 |publisher=CBC News |agency=Associated Press}}
• Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia){{cite news |first=Jamel |last=Arfaoui |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201407090299.html |title=Tunisia: Ansar Al-Sharia Tunisia Spokesman Backs Isis |publisher=AllAfrica |location=Tunis, Tunisia |date=July 8, 2014 |access-date=September 25, 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Abdallah Suleiman Ali |title=Global jihadists recognize Islamic State |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/07/syria-iraq-isis-islamic-caliphate-global-recognition.html |access-date=September 25, 2014 |publisher=Al-Monitor |date=July 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223015856/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/07/syria-iraq-isis-islamic-caliphate-global-recognition.html |archive-date=February 23, 2015}}
• Jund al-Khilafah{{cite news |last1=Chikhi |first1=Lamine |title=Splinter group breaks from al Qaeda in North Africa |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-algeria-security-idUSKBN0H90G820140914 |access-date=September 24, 2014 |work=Reuters |date=September 14, 2014}}
• Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem{{cite news |first=Asmaa |last=al-Ghoul |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/tr/originals/2014/02/isis-gaza-salafist-jihadist-qaeda-hamas.html |title=Gaza Salafists pledge allegiance to ISIS |work=Al-Monitor |location=Gaza City, Gaza Strip |date=February 27, 2014 |access-date=September 25, 2014}}
• Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid{{cite web |last=Witular |first=Rendi A. |title=Sons, top aides abandon Ba'asyir over ISIL, form new jihadist group |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/13/sons-top-aides-abandon-ba-asyir-over-isil-form-new-jihadist-group.html |work=The Jakarta Post |date=August 13, 2014}} – (pledged support to ISIL; the majority of the group split off after its leader pledged allegiance to ISIL){{cite web |title=Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, The Perpetual threat |first=Chris |last=Rottenberg |work=Osgood Center for International Studies |year=2012 |url=http://www.osgoodcenter.org/PDF/JAT.pdf |access-date=2019-08-29 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806101220/http://www.osgoodcenter.org/PDF/JAT.pdf |url-status=dead }}
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan{{cite news |title=Uzbek militants declare support for Islamic State |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1136578/uzbek-militants-declare-support-for-islamic-state/print |agency=Agence France-Presse |work=Dawn |date=October 7, 2014 |quote='Hereby, on behalf of all members of our movement, in line with our sacred duties, I declare that we are in the same ranks with the Islamic State in this continued war between Islam and [non-Muslims],' Usman Gazi wrote in an online statement on Sept 26. |access-date=May 25, 2015}}{{cite news |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/imu-islamic-state/27174567.html |title=IMU Declares It Is Now Part Of The Islamic State |date=August 6, 2015 |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=August 6, 2015}}
• Jundallah (Pakistan){{cite news |title=Pakistan Taliban splinter group vows allegiance to Islamic State |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-militants-is-idUSKCN0J20YQ20141118 |work=Reuters |date=November 18, 2014}}
• Caucasus Emirate (most of Caucasus Emirate commanders switched allegiance to ISIL){{cite magazine |last=Vatchagaev |first=Mairbek |date=February 13, 2015 |title=Caucasus Emirate and Islamic State Split Slows Militant Activities in North Caucasus |magazine=Eurasia Daily Monitor |publisher=The Jamestown Foundation |volume=12 |issue=29 |url=https://jamestown.org/program/caucasus-emirate-and-islamic-state-split-slows-militant-activities-in-north-caucasus-2/}}{{cite news |url=http://www.rferl.mobi/a/islamic-state-north-caucasus-insurgency-commanders-allegiance/26773615.html |title=Six North Caucasus Insurgency Commanders Transfer Allegiance To Islamic State |first=Liz |last=Fuller |date=January 2, 2015 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=February 17, 2015}}{{cite news |url=http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=44051&cHash=973198e3db1a533a0115a648cad28b2a |title=What Caused the Demise of the Caucasus Emirate? |newspaper=Jamestown |date=June 18, 2015 |publisher=Jamestown Foundation}}
• Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade{{Cite news |url=http://www.vocativ.com/world/israel-world/isis-operating-gaza/ |title=ISIS: We Are Operating in Gaza |last=Levy |first=Rachael |date=June 9, 2014 |work=Vocative |access-date=June 2, 2015 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816061921/https://www.vocativ.com/world/israel-world/isis-operating-gaza/ |url-status=dead }}
• Khalifa Islamiyah Mindanao
• Jemaah Islamiyah{{cite web|access-date=2019-08-30|title=Terror acts could occur in Australia: Abbott|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/terror-acts-could-occur-in-australia-abbott/news-story/7a5cfe93495dfab4c3e07d901fb1b637|date=August 21, 2014|website=The Australian}}
• Abu Sayyaf{{cite news |last=Zavadski |first=Katie |title=ISIS Now Has a Network of Military Affiliates in 11 Countries Around the World |url=http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/11/isis-now-has-military-allies-in-11-countries.html |access-date=November 25, 2014 |work=New York |date=November 23, 2014}}{{cite news |title=Philippines condemns, vows to 'thwart' ISIS |url=http://www.rappler.com/nation/69380-philippines-condemns-islamic-state-isis |first=Paterno |last=Emasquel II |publisher=Rappler |date=September 17, 2014 |access-date=September 19, 2014}}
• Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters{{cite news |title=BIFF, Abu Sayyaf pledge allegiance to Islamic State jihadists |work=GMA News Online |agency=Agence France-Presse |publisher=GMA Network |location=Quezon City, Philippines |date=August 16, 2014 |url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/375074/news/nation/biff-abu-sayyaf-pledge-allegiance-to-islamic-state-jihadists |access-date=August 22, 2014}}
• Ansar Khalifa Philippines
• Islamic Defenders Front (FPI):{{cite web |title=Ini Video Dukungan FPI ke ISIS |url=https://news.detik.com/detiktv/d-5314787/ini-video-dukungan-fpi-ke-isis|work=Detik.com|language=id |date=December 30, 2020}} Pledged allegiance and support to ISIL in 2014. Only revealed in 2020 by the government upon its ban.)
• Saraya al-Madina al-Munawara{{Cite news |date=2014-07-01 |title=Iraq crisis: Key players in Sunni rebellion |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28053496 |access-date=2025-03-01 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

{{Colend}}(Not all of the Groups supporting ISIS are mentioned)

{{See also|Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars}}

A United Nations report {{as of|2015|5|alt=from May 2015}} showed that 25,000 "foreign terrorist fighters" from 100 countries had joined "Islamist" groups, many of them working for ISIL or al-Qaeda.{{cite news |last1=Burke |first1=Jason |title=Islamist fighters drawn from half the world's countries, says UN |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/26/islamist-fighters-drawn-from-half-the-worlds-countries-says-un |access-date=May 26, 2015 |work=The Guardian |date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526202608/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/26/islamist-fighters-drawn-from-half-the-worlds-countries-says-un |archive-date=May 26, 2015 |url-status=live}} The US-trained commander of Tajikistan's Interior Ministry OMON police special forces, Gulmurod Khalimov, has been raised to the rank of "Minister of War" within the Islamic State.{{cite news |date=September 6, 2016 |title=Isis: US-trained Tajik special forces chief Gulmurod Khalimov becomes Isis 'war minister' |work=International Business Times |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-us-trained-tajik-special-forces-chief-gulmurod-khalimov-becomes-isis-war-minister-1579966}}{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-tajikistan-idUSKBN0OD1AP20150528 |first=Dmitry |last=Solovyov |title=Commander of elite Tajik police force defects to Islamic State |date=May 28, 2015 |publisher=Reuters}}

One of the most prominent commanders of ISIL in Syria, Abu Omar al-Shishani, served previously as a sergeant in the Georgian Army before being medically discharged, later imprisoned, becoming radicalized, then fleeing the country.{{cite news |last1=Mroue |first1=Bassem |title=Chechen in Syria a rising star in extremist group |work=Washington Examiner |agency=Associated Press |date=July 2, 2014 |url=http://washingtonexaminer.com/chechen-in-syria-a-rising-star-in-extremist-group/article/feed/2146182 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714130320/http://washingtonexaminer.com/chechen-in-syria-a-rising-star-in-extremist-group/article/feed/2146182 |archive-date=July 14, 2014}}

A 2015 report by the Program on Extremism at George Washington University found 71 individuals charged in the United States with supporting ISIL, 250 travelling or attempting to travel to Syria or Iraq from the United States to join ISIL, and about 900 active domestic ISIL-related investigations.{{cite web |url=http://cchs.gwu.edu/isis-in-america |title=ISIS in America |website=Center for Cyber & Homeland Security |publisher=George Washington University |access-date=2019-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227031021/http://cchs.gwu.edu/isis-in-america |archive-date=2015-12-27 |url-status=dead }}

An October 2016 World Bank study found that "ISIL's foreign fighters are surprisingly well-educated."{{cite web |url=http://qz.com/802276/the-foreign-fighters-of-isisislamic-state-are-surprisingly-well-educated-according-to-the-world-bank/ |title=ISIL's foreign fighters are surprisingly well-educated, according to the World Bank |work=Quartz |first=Aamna |last=Mohdin |date=October 6, 2016 |access-date=October 18, 2016}} Using the fighters' self-reported educational levels, the study concluded that "69% of recruits reported at least a secondary-level education" of which "a large fraction have gone on to study at university"{{cite report |url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/409591474983005625/pdf/108525-REVISED-PUBLIC.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007104956/http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/409591474983005625/pdf/108525-REVISED-PUBLIC.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 7, 2016 |title=Economic and Social Inclusion to Prevent Violent Extremism |work=MENA Economic Monitor |publisher=World Bank Middle East and North Africa Region |date=October 2016}} and also that "only 15% of recruits left school before high school; less than 2% are illiterate." The study also found that foreign fighters are often more educated than their countrymen where those "from Europe and in Central Asia have similar levels of education to their countrymen" while those "from the Middle East, North Africa, and South and East Asia are significantly more educated than what is typical in their home nations." The report notes that its conclusions that terrorism is not driven by poverty and low levels of education which conforms with previous research. However, the report did find a strong correlation "between a country's male unemployment rate and the propensity of the country to supply foreign fighters". Many European countries have allowed their citizens that joined ISIL to be prosecuted by Iraq.{{cite news |first=Pesha |last=Magid |title=How Europe Is Handing Off Its ISIS Militants to Iraq

|work=Foreign Policy |date=June 15, 2019 |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/15/how-europe-is-handing-off-its-isis-militants-to-iraq/}}

In August 2018, Australia stripped the Australian citizenship from five terrorists who had travelled to fight with the Islamic State and barred them from entering Australia again.{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-09/islamic-state-terrorists-lose-australian-citizenship/10092678 |title=Islamic State involvement sees five Australian terrorists stripped of citizenship |first1=Stephanie |last1=Borys |first2=Louise |last2=Yaxley |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=August 9, 2018 |access-date=August 19, 2019}} This was only possible because they had double citizenships because international law stops the measure from being used on individuals with only one citizenship. The five brought the total to six.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/five-islamic-state-terrorists-stripped-of-australian-citizenship-20180809-p4zwgp.html|title=Five Islamic State terrorists stripped of Australian citizenship|date=August 9, 2018|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=August 9, 2018}}

Up to 2018, an estimated 450 individuals had travelled from Belgium to join the civil war in Syria and Iraq.{{Cite book|url=https://www.ispionline.it/sites/default/files/pubblicazioni/mediterraneo_def_web.pdf|title=De-Radicalization in the Mediterranean – Comparing Challenges and Approaches|last=Vidino|first=Lorenzo |editor=Lorenzo Vidino|publisher=ISPI|year=2018|isbn=978-8-8670-5819-8|location=Milan, Italy|page=14}} Of those, 75 were linked to the Sharia4Belgium network.{{Cite journal |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/belgian-radical-networks-and-the-road-to-the-brussels-attacks/ |first=Pieter |last=Van Ostaeyen |title=Belgian Radical Networks and the Road to the Brussels Attacks |date=June 16, 2016 |journal=CTC Sentinel |publisher=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point |volume=9 |issue=6 |access-date=August 29, 2019 |archive-date=September 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015835/https://ctc.usma.edu/belgian-radical-networks-and-the-road-to-the-brussels-attacks/ |url-status=dead }} In July 2018, courts announced that Belgium had no obligation to bring children of Islamic State members to Belgium.{{Cite news|url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20180719_03623578|title=België hoeft kinderen IS-strijders niet te repatriëren|trans-title=Belgium does not have to repatriate children IS fighters |work=De Standaard|date=July 19, 2018|language=nl-BE}}

In November 2017, Denmark stripped a Turkish man of his Danish citizenship after having been sentenced for terror offenses related to the Islamic State, which left him with a citizenship of Turkey.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/hoejesteret-danskfoedt-syrienkriger-mister-statsborgerskabet|title=Højesteret: Danskfødt syrienkriger mister statsborgerskabet|trans-title=Supreme Court: Danish-born Syrian warrior loses citizenship |first=Emma |last=Toft |work=DR |date=November 14, 2017|language=da}}

Up to 2018, an estimated 1700 individuals had travelled from France to join the civil war in Syria and Iraq.

French nationals who were involved in the Yazidi genocide were prosecuted in France.{{cite news | title = القضاء الفرنسي يحاكم داعشي بتهمة ارتكاب جرائم بحق 11 طفلاً و إمرأة ايزيدية | url = https://zewanews.com/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%b6%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%86%d8%b3%d9%8a-%d9%8a%d8%ad%d8%a7%d9%83%d9%85-%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b9%d8%b4%d9%8a-%d8%a8%d8%aa%d9%87%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%83 | access-date = October 13, 2024 | work = Zewa News – وكالة زيوا الاخبارية |language=ar}}

Up to 2018, an estimated 940 individuals had travelled from Germany to join the civil war in Syria and Iraq.

{{See also|Foreign fighters in the Syrian Civil War and War in Iraq#India|Territory of the Islamic State#India}}

Up to 2019, about a 100 Indian nationals had joined the IS in Syria and Afghanistan while 155 individuals had been arrested for IS-related connections. Many of these came from the southern Indian state of Kerala and also from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. These numbers are considered relatively low despite India having the third-largest population of Muslims [as of 2020]. The limited involvement of Indian Muslim fighters in calls for global jihad was also observed during the Soviet–Afghan War, and various reasons have been given for this. These include the limited influence of Salafi-Wahabbism in India, inability of IS sympathizers in India to travel to IS controlled territories due to logistical factors and poverty among Indian Muslims, the existing presence of Pakistani militant groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad with which the IS is in open strife, and the opposition of Indian Islamic leadership to such groups (with 70,000 Barelvi clerics issuing a fatwa condemning IS and similar organisations in 2015).{{cite web |last1=Rasheed |first1=Adil |title=Why fewer Indians have joined ISIS |url=https://theprint.in/opinion/why-fewer-indians-have-joined-isis/497141/ |website=ThePrint |date=September 7, 2020}}{{cite news |title=70,000 clerics issue fatwa against terrorism, 15 lakh Muslims support it |first=Priyangi |last=Agarwall |work=The Times of India |agency=TNN |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/70000-clerics-issue-fatwa-against-terrorism-15-lakh-Muslims-support-it/articleshow/50100656.cms |date=December 9, 2015}}
{{bullet}}{{cite news |title=70,000 Indian clerics issue fatwa against terrorists |first=Molly |last=Jackson |work=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2015/1210/70-000-Indian-clerics-issue-fatwa-against-terrorists |date=December 10, 2015}}
{{bullet}}{{cite news |title=70,000 Muslim clerics just issued a fatwa against terrorism |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/70000-indian-muslim-clerics-issue-fatwa-against-isis-the-taliban-al-qaida-and-other-terror-groups-a6768191.html |date=December 10, 2015 |work=Independent |first=Caroline |last=Mortimer}}

The Parliament of Netherlands voted in 2016 for legislation to strip Dutch citizens who join ISIL or al Qaeda abroad of their citizenship, also if they have not been convicted of any crime.{{cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/dutch-mps-vote-to-strip-islamic-militants-of-dual-nationality |title=Dutch MPs vote to strip Islamic militants of dual nationality |date=May 25, 2016 |access-date=August 19, 2019 |newspaper=Straits Times |publisher=Singapore Press Holdings |agency=AFP}} The law can only be applied to individuals with double citizenship. Justice Minister Ard van der Steur stated the legal changes were necessary to stop jihadists from returning to the Netherlands.{{Cite news|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212749|title=Dutch Jihadists to be stripped of dual citizenship|first=Arutz |last=Sheva |work=Israel National News|agency=AFP}} In September 2017, four jihadists were stripped of their citizenship.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2017/sep/13/netherlands-strip-four-jihadists-of-citizenship-1656702.html|title=Netherlands strip four jihadists of citizenship|work=The New Indian Express|date=September 13, 2017|agency=AFP}}

In the 2012 to November 2018 period, more than 310 individuals had travelled from the Netherlands to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Of those 85 had been killed and 55 returned to the Netherlands. Of the surviving Dutch foreign fighters in the region, 135 are fighters in the conflict zone and three-quarters are members of ISIL. The remaining quarter have joined Al-Qaeda affiliated groups such as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham or Tanzim Hurras al-Deen.{{Cite book|url=https://english.aivd.nl/binaries/aivd-en/documents/publications/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe/Legacy+of+Syria+-+Global+jihadism+remains+a+threat+to+Europe.pdf|title=Syria's Legacy – Global jihadism remains a threat to Europe|publisher=General Intelligence and Security Service|date=November 2018|page=8|access-date=2019-08-29|archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827211854/https://english.aivd.nl/binaries/aivd-en/documents/publications/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe/Legacy+of+Syria+-+Global+jihadism+remains+a+threat+to+Europe.pdf|url-status=dead}}

{{see also| Sinai insurgency #In the Gaza Strip }}

Men from the Gaza Strip who joined ISIS during the Sinai insurgency were shunned by the community and disowned by their families.{{cite web | title = ISIS Declares War on Hamas, and Gaza Families Disown Sons in Sinai | website = The New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/world/middleeast/isis-hamas-sinai.html | date = 2024-01-12 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20240112221024/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/world/middleeast/isis-hamas-sinai.html | archive-date = 2024-01-12 }}

{{Main article|Swedish foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi civil wars}}

Up to 2018, an estimated 300 individuals had travelled from Sweden to join the civil war in Syria. In March 2018 Kurdish authorities reported they had captured 41 IS supporters with either Swedish citizenship or residence permit in Sweden, of which 5 had key positions in the organisation and one was the head of the ISIL propaganda efforts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/kurdisk-kalla-41-is-svenskar-fangslade-i-syrien/|title=Kurdisk källa: 41 IS-svenskar fängslade i Syrien|trans-title=Kurdish source: 41 IS-Swedes imprisoned in Syria

|date=March 24, 2018|work=Dagens Nyheter|language=sv-se|url-access=subscription}}

Cabinet minister William Hague stated in 2014 that up to 400 British citizens had joined ISIL.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/16/400-uk-citizens-fighting-syria-isis-iraq-william-hague|title=Up to 400 British citizens may be fighting in Syria, says William Hague|last1=Wintour|first1=Patrick|last2=Watt|first2=Nicholas|date=June 16, 2014|website=The Guardian|access-date=March 25, 2018}} The government instituted a practice where if those who had joined had double citizenships were stripped of their British citizenship to prevent them from arriving back in the UK. By 2017, 150 individuals had been stripped of citizenship and were thus unable to enter the United Kingdom again.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/30/uk-has-stripped-150-jihadists-and-criminals-of-citizenship|title=UK 'has stripped 150 jihadists and criminals of citizenship'|agency=Press Association|date=July 30, 2017|work=The Guardian}} Some relevant cells from UK were The Beatles cell known for having carried out beheadings of journalists and aid workers in Iraq and Syria.

The "Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys" were a group of five British Bangladeshis from Portsmouth, who moved to Syria in September 2013. The CCTV of the Gatwick airport watched the five men walking towards their flight.{{cite web |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=July 27, 2015 |title=Who were the al-Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/27/who-were-al-britani-brigade-bangladeshi-bad-boys |accessdate=2023-05-27 |work=The Guardian}} The cell was led by Ifthekar Jaman, (a.k.a. Abu Abdurrahman al-Britani) who was killed in December 2013 in an encounter against loyalist forces to the Syrian government.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25415113|title=Briton Ifthekar Jaman 'killed fighting in Syria', family says|work=BBC News|date=December 17, 2013 |accessdate=2023-05-27}}{{cite web |last1=Malnick |first1=Edward |last2=Spencer |first2=Richard |date=December 17, 2013 |title=British 'celebrity jihadi' and chef dies in Syria |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10524179/British-celebrity-jihadi-and-chef-dies-in-Syria.html |accessdate=2023-05-27 |work=The Telegraph}} With the pass of the war the other members were dying in combat, and it was not until July 26, 2015, the last member of the cell (Azzam Uzzaman) were killed in action confirmed by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/26/islamic-state-britani-brigade-portsmouth-syria-isis|title=Last of Islamic State's 'Britani Brigade' believed dead|work=The Guardian|date=July 26, 2015 |accessdate=2023-05-27}}{{cite web |last=Harris |first=Dominic |date=July 26, 2015 |title=Last of 'Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys' who joined ISIS in Syria dies |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/last-britani-brigade-bangladeshi-bad-6144462 |accessdate=2023-05-27 |work=The Mirror.uk}}

On February 17, 2025, a video became visible in which IS claims they have come to Uruguay to carry out attacks in the Americas.{{cite news |url=https://www.larazon.es/internacional/estado-islamico-anuncia-que-esta-uruguay-que-pronto-extendera-toda-america_2025021767b2faa6417ec20001fc0bd1.html |title=El Estado Islámico anuncia que ya está en Uruguay y que pronto se extenderá por toda América |first=J.N. |last=Zuloaga |date=February 17, 2025 |access-date=February 18, 2025 |newspaper=La Razón |language=es}} The author of the video was identified as S. B. de P.,{{cite news |url=https://gaceta.es/espana/el-estado-islamico-afirma-que-ya-esta-en-uruguay-y-anuncia-nuevos-atentados-mediante-atropellos-masivos-20250217-1818/ |title=El Estado Islámico afirma que ya está en Uruguay y anuncia nuevos atentados mediante atropellos masivos |date=17 February 2025 |access-date=18 February 2025 |work=La Gaceta de la Iberosfera |language=es}} he pledged allegiance to Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi and was arrested in October 2024.{{cite news |url=https://www.montevideo.com.uy/Noticias/Medio-extranjero-apunto-a-Estado-Islamico-en-Uruguay-y-diputado-consulto-a-Interior-uc915259 |title=Medio extranjero apuntó a Estado Islámico en Uruguay y diputado consultó a Interior |date=17 February 2025 |access-date=18 February 2025 |work=Montevideo Portal |language=es}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telenoche.com.uy/nacionales/el-estado-islamico-reaparecio-uruguay-y-asegura-que-se-expandira-la-region-que-dicen-las-autoridades-n5380504 |title=El Estado Islámico reapareció en Uruguay y asegura que se expandirá a la región; ¿Qué dicen las autoridades? |date=17 February 2025 |access-date=18 February 2025 |work=Telenoche |language=es}}

• Collaborationism
• Ruslan Maratovich Asainov
• Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war
• List of designated terrorist groups
• State sponsors of terrorism
• War on terror

{{reflist}}

{{Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}}

{{Military intervention against ISIL}}