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