Terrorist Organization
Appears in 6 stories
Degraded but still the world's deadliest terrorist organization by attack count
At the peak in 2014, terrorism killed roughly 33,000 people worldwide — driven largely by the Islamic State's rapid territorial conquest across Iraq and Syria. Twelve years later, the Global Terrorism Index for 2026 reports that annual deaths have dropped 83%, to 5,582 — the lowest figure since 2007. Terrorist incidents fell 22% to 2,944, and 81 countries recorded improvements.
Updated Mar 28
Degraded insurgency; no territorial control; conducting low-level guerrilla operations
Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State in December 2017 after recapturing Mosul and eliminating the group's territorial caliphate. Eight years later, Iraqi F-16s are still hunting militants in desert hideouts—a reminder that defeating an insurgency's territory is not the same as defeating its fighters.
Updated Feb 12
Conducting insurgency operations in Syria and Iraq
On December 13, 2025, a Syrian security officer allegedly affiliated with ISIS opened fire on US troops near Palmyra, killing two Iowa National Guard members—Staff Sgts. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard—and a civilian interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat. Six days later, the US unleashed Operation Hawkeye Strike, with 100 precision munitions hitting 70 ISIS targets across central Syria using fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery; Jordan sent F-16s. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called it "a declaration of vengeance."
Updated Feb 5
Regrouping in Syria's desert badlands after losing territorial control in 2019
A lone ISIS gunman killed two Iowa National Guardsmen and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13, 2025—the first American combat deaths since dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country a year earlier. Six days later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth launched Operation Hawkeye Strike: F-15s, A-10s, Apache helicopters, and HIMARS artillery hammering 70 ISIS targets across central Syria with over 100 precision munitions. Jordan sent fighter jets. Trump called it vengeance. Then U.S. forces kept hunting—11 more raids between December 20-29 killed or captured 25 ISIS operatives and destroyed four weapons caches.
Updated Dec 31, 2025
Active cells operating in Turkey despite territorial defeat in 2019
A six-hour gun battle at 2am in a Turkish village left three police officers and six ISIS militants dead on December 30. Officers İlker Pehlivan, Turgut Külünk, and Yasin Koçyiğit died storming a house in Elmalik where militants used women and children as human shields, refusing police pleas to surrender. Eight more officers and a night watchman were wounded before the standoff ended at 9:40am with all five women and six children evacuated safely.
Updated Dec 30, 2025
ISIS has not claimed the Palmyra insider shooting, but reporting said it claimed subsequent attacks on Syrian security forces after the U.S. retaliation.
In the first post-strike readout of “Operation Hawkeye Strike,” Jordan confirmed its air force flew alongside U.S. forces in the retaliatory package that hit 70+ ISIS targets across central Syria. While CENTCOM has not released a formal casualty count, multiple reports citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and AFP put ISIS losses at at least five, including a cell leader tied to drone activity in the east.
Updated Dec 21, 2025
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