The rise and fall of Daesh

Led by Iraqi-born “caliph” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, it declared it would henceforth be known only as the Islamic State. (AFP)
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Updated 27 May 2020
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The rise and fall of Daesh

Daesh changed the terms of the debate on extremism

Summary

On June 30, 2014, Arab News reported that a Sunni terrorist group, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, had declared the formation of a caliphate, imposing its extreme interpretation of Shariah law on areas it had conquered in Syria and Iraq.

Led by Iraqi-born “caliph” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, it declared it would henceforth be known only as the Islamic State, a caliphate whose territory extended from Aleppo in Syria to Diyala in Iraq.

Known in the Arab world as Daesh, the organization was responsible for a reign of terror in which thousands were killed or held as slaves, priceless antiquities were destroyed or stolen, and historic sites from Palmyra in Syria to Mosul in Iraq were devastated.

Although Daesh continues as an ideological threat, over the past five years a US-led coalition of dozens of nations, including all six Gulf Cooperation Council states, has stripped it of the 110,000 square kilometers of territory it once controlled, liberating 7 million people.

In October 2019, Al-Baghdadi committed suicide during a US raid on his hideout in northern Syria.

In June 2014, I was part of the team that launched a new think tank looking at religious extremism. Our patron, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, had long been concerned that the ideological element of extremist groups was being overlooked, and it needed more policy-focused research.

That month, Daesh raced through northern Iraq, routing government troops and capturing a vast quantity of material that would strengthen its new position. On June 29, in the central mosque in Mosul, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the group’s leader, declared himself to be caliph of a new caliphate.

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The world was fascinated and horrified. Most had never heard of Daesh, or were aware of its links to Al-Qaeda in Iraq during the Iraq War. How had this group come out of nowhere to conquer the north of Iraq in addition to its territories in Syria? Interest was such that an article I published on our think tank’s website explaining where the group had come from was at one stage the top result in Google searches.

For extremists and their sympathizers across the world, this was the moment they had been waiting and fighting for over many years. Al-Qaeda’s softly-softly approach had caused immense frustrations; here at last, they thought, was a leader and a group capable of delivering on what it promised. Extremists flocked to Daesh in their droves; estimates in 2016 put the number of foreign fighters who had joined at 40,000, with a flow at its peak of up to 2,000 per month. The majority of these foreign fighters were from the Middle East and North Africa, but they included a large number from the West, and South and Southeast Asia too.

Throughout modern history, in every kind of social or political movement, new kinds of organizations have emerged and changed the terms of the debate. Al-Qaeda did that with the 9/11 attacks. Daesh did the same in 2014.

All across the globe, people still claim to be acting in the name of Al-Baghdadi’s supposed caliphate

Peter Welby

Daesh’s use of propaganda probably received the most focus (and parts of its violence, such as the immolation of Muath Al-Kasasbeh, the Jordanian pilot, were for propaganda purposes). It produced slick videos and professionally edited and produced magazines. It created vast networks on social media. Counter-Daesh efforts sought to emulate this, with very limited success, because the majority of efforts seemed unable to grasp that the production of slick videos was not the point, but merely a mechanism for communicating the point.

Key Dates


  • 1

    Daesh declares the formation of a caliphate, led by Iraqi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Al-Badri, aka Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.


  • 2

    Al-Baghdadi makes his only known public appearance, in a video filmed at the Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul.


  • 3

    Daesh posts photographs of the beheading of dozens of captured Syrian soldiers. Over the next year, more filmed beheadings would follow, including those of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines.

    Timeline Image July 25, 2014


  • 4

    The Global Coalition Against Daesh is formed by the US.


  • 5

    Daesh fighters murder 163 people in Mosul, Iraq.

    Timeline Image June 1, 2017


  • 6

    Daesh destroys the historic Great Mosque of Al-Nuri in Mosul.


  • 7

    Daesh destroys monuments at Syria’s UNESCO World Heritage site at Palmyra.

    Timeline Image December 2017


  • 8

    US Special Forces track Al-Baghdadi to a hideout in northern Syria, where he kills himself and three children by detonating a suicide vest.


  • 9

    At a ministerial meeting in Washington, the 82-member global coalition celebrates the liberation of the group’s former territories but warns “these achievements and Daesh’s enduring defeat are threatened... our work is not done.”

Another area of total change was in Daesh’s approach to governance. Other transnational terrorist groups had attempted governance before — notably Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the aftermath of 2011. And other extremist groups of different ideological stripes had tried it on a large scale, such as the Taliban in Afghanistan. But Daesh was the first group with an explicitly transnational ideology (it sought to establish a global caliphate) to attempt governance at scale. It put out calls to doctors and teachers; it announced the launch of a currency with great fanfare; it encouraged those who traveled to its territory to burn their passports.

Iraq said Daesh’s ‘caliphate’ was coming to an end three years to the day after it was proclaimed, following the recapture of Mosul’s iconic Al-Nuri Mosque on Thursday.

From a story by Siraj Wahab on Arab News’ front page, June 30, 2017

This relates to the third area of total change, and the reason that, even now, with the majority of Daesh territory liberated, extremists all over the world are still carrying out attacks in the group’s name. Daesh’s actions in 2014 had proclaimed a message across the Islamist world: “We Deliver.” For decades, different groups had been claiming to seek a caliphate. Most observers laughed at this fantasy and focused on how the West, in their eyes, could stop provoking such groups. Daesh’s actions granted it legitimacy in the sight of its ideological sympathizers. Fighters for other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq defected — in contrast to Daesh, their leaders were mere warlords. Groups from Nigeria to the Philippines swore allegiance. And, right across the Middle East and North Africa, Daesh cells claimed to expand its jurisdiction.

Wind forward nearly six years and Al-Baghdadi is dead, while the territories he commanded across Syria and Iraq are Daesh territories no more. But the allegiance to the idea has remained: In Nigeria, the Sinai, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere across the globe, people still claim to be acting in the name of Al-Baghdadi’s supposed caliphate.




A page from the Arab News archive showing the news on June 30, 2017.

This is the power of ideology. When we focus on personalities, propaganda or territory, we risk missing the most important aspect. It was not Al-Baghdadi’s charismatic personality that drew people who had never met him and hardly ever heard him speak to pledge allegiance. If slick films were enough, the world would be rushing to pledge allegiance to Peter Jackson. If territory were the key, then support for Daesh’s would have dried up on the banks of the Euphrates. All of these things are important, but it is the idea of the caliphate, and the means to achieve it, which holds Daesh’s supporters together.

  • Peter Welby is a consultant on religion and global affairs, specializing in the Arab world. Previously he was the managing editor of a think tank on religious extremism, the Centre on Religion & Geopolitics, and worked in public affairs in the Arabian Gulf. He is based in London, and has lived in Egypt and Yemen. Twitter: @pdcwelby


Pakistan urges UN to recover weapons left in Afghanistan, warns militants gaining access

Updated 12 min 2 sec ago
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Pakistan urges UN to recover weapons left in Afghanistan, warns militants gaining access

  • Pakistan tells the world body TTP and BLA militants are getting support from its ‘principal adversary’
  • It maintains militant groups are using new technologies like cryptocurrency to finance their activities

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday voiced concern at the United Nations Security Council over militant groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) acquiring sophisticated weapons, urging the international community to recover stockpiles left behind by foreign forces in Afghanistan.​
Pakistan has previously highlighted that US-led international forces abandoned automatic assault rifles and night vision devices in Afghanistan during their hurried withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021.
The pullout was widely criticized as unplanned and chaotic, leading to Congressional inquiries in the US and intense criticism of former US President Joe Biden’s administration.
However, the previous American government denied Pakistan’s claims, saying all military hardware was intended for the Afghan National Army, which collapsed as the Taliban seized power. US officials acknowledged that these weapons subsequently fell into the hands of the Taliban.​
“We know that non-state actors do not have many of the capabilities to manufacture advanced illicit arms, thus raising questions of culpability of certain state actors in these nefarious activities,” Syed Atif Raza, Counsellor at Pakistan’s UN Mission, said during a UNSC meeting on small arms and light weapons management.​
“Pakistan is concerned at the acquisition and use of modern and sophisticated illicit arms by terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a UN-listed terrorist organization, which operates with impunity from Afghanistan, as well as the so-called Baloch Liberation Army and Majeed Brigade,” he added.​
Raza noted these militant groups possessed lethal weapons left in Afghanistan that were now used against civilians and Pakistan’s armed forces.
“We call upon our international partners to recover the vast stockpile of abandoned weapons, prevent their access to armed groups and take measures to close this thriving black market of illicit arms,” he added.
Pakistan has witnessed a significant uptick in militant violence in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan in recent years.
The Pakistani diplomat asserted that militants receive external support and financing from Pakistan’s “principal adversary,” alluding to India.​
He also highlighted that the evolving nature of warfare and new technologies posed challenges in combating the proliferation of increasingly lethal small arms.
“Criminal groups and terrorists are leveraging new technologies such as cryptocurrency for anonymous transactions by using the dark web to evade detection,” Raza said, adding that these technologies also offered more tools to law enforcement to address the situation.​


Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record

Updated 16 min 8 sec ago
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Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record

  • Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27
  • Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs

LOS ANGELES: Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak on Friday with a statement 125-111 victory.

In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the postseason.

Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27.

Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the lead before building a 23-point advantage late in the second quarter.

Houston maintained a 20-point cushion with 2min 53sec remaining in the third quarter before a Thunder rally cut the gap to single digits early in the fourth.

But Houston coolly regrouped and snuffed out any chance of a comeback from Oklahoma City.

Houston coach Ime Udoka praised the aggressive scoring approach of Sengun and teammate Green.

“He was in attack mode the whole time. Him and Jalen were a great combination tonight,” Udoka said of Sengun. “We’re hard to beat when those two are going like that.”

Jalen Williams led the OKC scoring with 33 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 22. Chet Holmgren chipped in with 20 points, 18 of them coming from his tally of six three-pointers.

The Boston Celtics claimed a piece of NBA history by setting a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single season.

The NBA champions eclipsed the Golden State Warriors’ record of 1,363 threes set in the 2022-2023 season after adding 14 threes to their season tally in a 123-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Boston’s three-point barrage left them with 1,370 for the season.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said the three-point scoring record reflected his team’s work ethic and basketball IQ.

“It says that we fight for a good shot,” Mazzulla said.

“We were able to fight for good looks, versus the coverage. That’s the most important thing, continuing to understand how we’re being defended and how we can create the best shot possible.

“Credit to the guys for continuing to make the right reads.”

Jaylen Brown led Boston’s scoring with 31 points while Jayson Tatum finished with 23 in a win that dealt another blow to the Suns’ hopes of forcing their way into the postseason reckoning.

The Suns’ fifth straight defeat leaves them in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 35-42 record, two wins behind the 10th-placed Sacramento Kings (37-40), 125-102 winners over Charlotte on Friday.

The top six teams in each conference qualify automatically for the playoffs, while teams ranked seventh to 10th enter a four-team play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff places.

In San Antonio, the Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs.


Pakistan forms committee to assess impact of US tariffs, craft policy response

Updated 26 min 45 sec ago
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Pakistan forms committee to assess impact of US tariffs, craft policy response

  • President Trump announced ‘reciprocal tariffs’ on several countries this week, including a 29 percent levy on Pakistani goods
  • The move is expected to hit Pakistan’s textile sector and undermine the country’s efforts to stabilize its fragile economy

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has constituted a high-level steering committee led by the finance chief to assess the impact of a 29 percent tariff imposed by the United States on Pakistani goods and devise a policy response, according to a government notification this week.
The development follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday of “reciprocal tariffs” on several countries, a move widely seen as a blow to the global economy still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump defended the decision as necessary to correct trade imbalances and what he described as unfair treatment of American goods abroad.
Pakistan’s inclusion in the list of affected nations is of particular concern as the South Asian nation is seeking to boost its export-led growth. The US remains Pakistan’s top export destination, and the imposition of the 29 percent tariff threatens to undercut Islamabad’s fragile recovery efforts.
“Prime Minister has been pleased to constitute steering committee for in-depth analysis and policy responses to recently announced US Reciprocal Tariffs,” read a notification issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.
The committee, chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, will supervise a working group led by the commerce secretary and finalize policy recommendations.
It will also be responsible for engaging with US officials as needed and updating the prime minister on related developments and initiatives.
According to data from Pakistan’s central bank, the country exported $5.44 billion worth of goods to the US last year.
During the current fiscal, exports to the US reached $4 billion from July 2024 to February 2025, up 10 percent from the same period the previous year.
Textiles account for nearly 90 percent of Pakistan’s exports to the US and are expected to be hardest hit by the new tariffs.
Officials fear the increased cost burden could weaken Pakistan’s position in its main overseas markets, especially if competitors like China, Bangladesh and Vietnam begin diverting goods to Europe after facing steeper tariffs in the US.
The tariff decision is also expected to hamper Pakistan’s broader efforts to stabilize its economy with the support of International Monetary Fund programs.
Global financial markets fell sharply on Friday after China vowed to retaliate with 34 percent tariffs on American goods, raising concerns of an escalating trade war and potential global recession.


McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg

Updated 05 April 2025
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McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg

  • The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by US Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalizing interest in track racing
  • Newly crowned world indoor 400m champion Chris Bailey continued his impressive start to the season with victory in the 400m in a time of 44.34sec, pipping Olympic silver medalist Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain

KINGSTON: Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory as the opening leg of the new Grand Slam Track athletics circuit got under way in Jamaica on Friday.

American track star McLaughlin-Levrone — racing in her signature event for the first time since winning gold at the Paris Olympics last year — romped home in 52.76sec at Kingston’s National Stadium.

The 25-year-old, who will also race in Sunday’s 400m, was always in control and had opened a significant lead as she came off the final bend before pulling away to finish several meters clear of 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who was second in 54.59sec.

“You know, just shaking the cobwebs off,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after her first race of the year. “The first one always hurts, but happy to be here.”

McLaughlin-Levrone is now in pole position to claim the $100,000 being offered to the athlete with the best combined result from the 400m hurdles and 400m.

The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by US Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalizing interest in track racing.

The opening action of a series that has been billed as the dawn of a new era for the sport was played out in front of a mostly empty stadium.

In other action on Friday, Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas was a similarly emphatic winner in her specialist race.

The 28-year-old surged home in 22.62sec to finish well clear of Marileidy Paulino, the Dominican Republic’s Paris Olympics 400m gold medalist, who clocked 22.96sec.

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was third in 22.96sec.

“It’s really exciting to be here,” Thomas said after her win.

Thomas said the prize money offered by the circuit had created an unusually intense degree of competition for an early season event.

“Normally, these early season meets we’re just practicing and feeling it out,” Thomas said. “Here...the stakes are high, the prize pot is huge and the level of competition is also really high.

“That’s not something that we’re really used to in our sport and I think it’s really good.”

In the men’s 100m, where Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles was a notable absentee, two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist Kenny Bednarek took victory in a thrilling duel with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville.

US sprinter Bednarek took the tape in 10.07sec, with Seville second in 10.08sec. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was third in 10.13 while the USA’s Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion, was seventh in 10.30sec.

In other action on Friday, newly crowned world indoor 400m champion Chris Bailey continued his impressive start to the season with victory in the 400m in a time of 44.34sec, pipping Olympic silver medalist Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, who was second in 44.65sec, with veteran US one-lap specialist Vernon Norwood third.

The men’s 400m hurdles saw a win for Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos in a world-leading time of 47.61sec, with Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke second in 48.20 and Caleb Dean of the US third in 48.58.

In the women’s 3,000m, Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye produced a devastating late kick to win in 8min 28.42sec ahead of Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich, with another Ethiopian Tsige Gebreselama third in 8:38.15.

The women’s 800m saw a world-leading time from the USA’s Nikki Hiltz, the American record-holder in the mile who is better known as a 1,500m runner.

Hiltz won in 1min 58.23sec, with Diribe Welteji second in 1:58.29 and Australia’s Jessica Hull third in 1:58.58.

Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the reigning world champion, finished last in 2:00.97.

American runners meanwhile claimed a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 5,000m, with Grant Fisher winning in 14min 39.14sec.


Match Play defending champion Nelly Korda ousted in group play

Updated 05 April 2025
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Match Play defending champion Nelly Korda ousted in group play

  • In Group 7, Japan’s Mao Saigo upset South Korea’s Haeran Ryu by sinking a birdie on the par-4 playoff hole
  • In Group 3, Carlota Ciganda of Spain defeated New Zealand’s Lydia Ko 2 up to win the group at 2-1-0 and push Ko to a surprising last-place finish (1-2-0)

LAS VEGAS: Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand defeated Nelly Korda 1 up to win Group 1 and eliminate the World No. 1 from the T-Mobile Match Play on Friday in North Las Vegas, Nevada

Jutanugarn went 3-0-0 in the group, but entering the day the group was up for grabs between her and Korda, who tallied 1 1/2 points through the first two days of competition.

“It’s pretty tough today because of the wind. And it’s match play. You kind of have to be really patient,” Jutanugarn said. “I have some (ups and downs). I’ve been missing some shots and hit some pretty good. Overall, it’s just like so much fun to have chance to play with Nelly. She’s one of the best players.”

Other than one brief hole on which Jutanugarn moved 2 up, the score of the match stayed within a hole throughout. Jutanugarn led for most of the front nine before Korda tied it with a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole at Shadow Creek Golf Course.

Korda moved 1 up when Jutanugarn bogeyed the par-3 13th, but Korda took a bogey on the par-4 No. 15 to let Jutanugarn win the hole and tie it back up. Jutanugarn’s birdie put at the par-5 16th gave her back the lead for good.

Korda was the defending champion of the event.

The 64-player field was divided into 16 four-player groups competing in three days of round-robin matches. A win earned one point, a tie earned a half-point and a loss was worth zero points. The winner of each group moves on to a 16-player, single-elimination bracket beginning Saturday.

The quarterfinals also will be played on Saturday, with the semifinals and final on Sunday.

Two groups needed playoffs to break ties for first place following the Friday round. In Group 7, Japan’s Mao Saigo upset South Korea’s Haeran Ryu by sinking a birdie on the par-4 playoff hole. Ryu was the highest seed in her group.

In Group 13, Lauren Coughlin beat Lucy Li when Li bogeyed the first hole.

“All three of my matches have been really close, kind of back and forth,” Coughlin said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more than 1 up all week. I’ve been down 2 at times, but kind of fought back in every one. Took it to 18 every day.

“Yeah, I mean, I rolled — started rolling it really well (Thursday). Made a ton of putts today that kind of kept me in it.”

Eight other players besides Jutanugarn went 3-0-0 in their respective groups: Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul (Group 2), Sei Young Kim of South Korea (Group 4), Brooke M. Henderson of Canada (Group 8), Sweden’s Maja Stark (Group 9), France’s Celine Boutier (Group 11) and A Lim Kim of South Korea (Group 12), Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom (Group 14) and Narin An of South Korea (Group 16).

In Group 3, Carlota Ciganda of Spain defeated New Zealand’s Lydia Ko 2 up to win the group at 2-1-0 and push Ko to a surprising last-place finish (1-2-0). South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai beat Alexa Pano 4 and 3 to capture first in Group 6 (2-0-1). Russia’s Nataliya Guseva beat Switzerland’s Albane Valenzuela 1 up to win Group 15 (2-0-1).

Also advancing were Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou (Group 5) and Angel Yin (Group 10).