World focus: ISIS is down but it is not out yet

The 'caliphate' is no more as the proto-state declared by ISIS has been reduced to a mere scrap of land in the Syrian town of Baghuz. But while the group is down, it is not yet out for the count. Arvind Jayaram tracks its rise and fall, and the threat it still poses.

Above: A screen grab of a video released by ISIS on Jan 20, 2015, showing Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) with an ISIS militant. ISIS threatened to kill the two Japanese men unless Tokyo paid a US$200 million (S$270 mill
A man with his daughter walking towards Iraqi special forces soldiers during a battle in Iraq in 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS
Above: A screen grab of a video released by ISIS on Jan 20, 2015, showing Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) with an ISIS militant. ISIS threatened to kill the two Japanese men unless Tokyo paid a US$200 million (S$270 mill
A screen grab of a video published by ISIS in 2015 of smoke billowing from the Baal Shamin temple in Syria that the group reportedly destroyed. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Above: A screen grab of a video released by ISIS on Jan 20, 2015, showing Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) with an ISIS militant. ISIS threatened to kill the two Japanese men unless Tokyo paid a US$200 million (S$270 mill
A member loyal to ISIS waving the terror group’s flag in Raqqa, Syria, in June 2014, when the caliphate was declared. PHOTO: REUTERS
Above: A screen grab of a video released by ISIS on Jan 20, 2015, showing Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) with an ISIS militant. ISIS threatened to kill the two Japanese men unless Tokyo paid a US$200 million (S$270 mill
A screen grab of a video released by ISIS on Jan 20, 2015, showing Japanese hostages Kenji Goto (left) and Haruna Yukawa (right) with an ISIS militant. ISIS threatened to kill the two Japanese men unless Tokyo paid a US$200 million (S$270 million) ransom to compensate for pledging aid to support the campaign against ISIS. The two men were reportedly beheaded later that month. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Arvind Jayaram
Updated
Published
February 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM
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The occupation of a third of Iraq's territory by some estimates and large swathes of Syria emboldened the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to declare in June 2014, from the ramparts of the famous Grand Mosque in Mosul, a caliphate roughly the size of Britain.

Thus began a reign of terror as ISIS embarked upon a systematic campaign to spread its virulent version of Islam in a fashion that would shock the world into action.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 26, 2019, with the headline World focus: ISIS is down but it is not out yet. Subscribe

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