ISIL territorial claims



ISIL territorial claims refer to announcements of territorial control and aspirations of control by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is an active extremist Islamist rebel group and self-declared Caliphate in the Middle East and North Africa. No nation recognizes the organization as a state. Its goal is the foundation of an Islamic state and finally, a worldwide caliphate, in accordance with Salafi Islam, by the means of military jihad.

ISIL initially claimed territory in Iraq and Syria, subdividing each country into multiple wilayah (provinces), largely based on preexisting governance boundaries. The first territorial claims by the group outside of Syria and Iraq were announced by its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, on 13 November 2014, when he announced new wilayats, or provinces, in Libya (Wilayat al-Barqah, Wilayat al-Tarabulus, and Wilayat al-Fizan), Algeria (Wilayat al-Jazair), Egypt (Wilayat Sinai), Yemen (Wilayat Sanaa), and Saudi Arabia (Wilayat al-Haramayn). In January 2015, a new province was announced in Afghanistan-Pakistan (Wilayat Khorasan), in March 2015 a new province was announced in and around Northern Nigeria (Wilayat Gharb Afriqiya), and in June 2015 a North Caucasus province (Wilayat al-Qawqaz) was announced.

Iraq and Syria
When the Iraq-based insurgent group Mujahideen Shura Council announced it was establishing an Islamic State of Iraq in October 2006, it claimed authority over seven Iraqi provinces: Baghdad, Al Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Ninawa, and parts of Babil.

When the group changed its name to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and expanded into Syria in April 2014, it claimed nine Syrian provinces, covering most of the country and lying largely along existing provincial boundaries: Al Barakah, Al Khayr, Raqqah, Homs, Halab, Idlib, Hamah, Damascus, and Ladhikiyah. It later subdivided the territory under its control to create new provinces of al-Furat, Fallujah, Dijla and al-Jazeera.

Libya
ISIL divides Libya into three historical provinces, claiming authority over Barqa (or Cyrenaica) in the east, Fezzan in the desert south, and Tarabulus (or Tripolitania) in the west, around the capital.

The city of Derna has been a major source of fighters in the Syrian Civil War and Iraq Insurgency. During early 2014, a number of leading ISIL fighters arrived in Derna. In the next few months, they united many local militant factions under their leadership and declared war on anyone who opposed them, killing judges, civic leaders and other opponents, including local militants who rejected their authority. On 5 October 2014, the ISIL-linked militants, who by then controlled part of the city, gathered to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. They were later expelled from most of this city following clashes with rival militants in mid-2015.

In February 2015, ISIL forces took over parts of the Libyan city of Sirte. In the following months, they used it as a base to capture neighbouring towns including Harawa, and Nofaliya. ISIL put increasing emphasis on controlling Sirte following their losses in Derna.

Egypt (Sinai)
The Egyptian militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis swore allegiance to ISIL in November 2014. After al-Baghdadi's speech on 13 November, the group changed its name to Sinai Province on the Twitter feed claiming to represent the group. The group has carried out attacks in Sinai.

Saudi Arabia
Al-Baghdadi announced a Wilayah in Saudi Arabia in November 2014, calling for the overthrow of the Saudi Royal Family and criticizing the Kingdom's participation in the US-led coalition against ISIL. The group has carried out attacks in the country under the names of Najd Province and Hejaz Province.

Yemen
After a Wilayah was announced in Yemen in November 2014, AQAP, the strongest militant group in the country, rejected the announcement. The branch's first attack occurred in March 2015, when it carried out suicide bombings on 2 Shia Mosques in the Yemeni capital. As the Yemeni Civil War escalated in March 2015, at least 7 ISIL Wilayat, named after existing provincial boundaries in Yemen, claimed responsibility for attacks against the Houthis, including Hadhramaut Province, Shabwah Province and Sana'a Province.

Algeria
Members of Jund al-Khilafah swore allegiance to ISIL in September 2014. ISIL in Algeria gained notoriety when it beheaded French tourist Herve Gourdel in September 2014. Since then, the group has largely been silent, with reports that its leader Khalid Abu-Sulayman was killed by Algerian forces in December 2014.

Afghanistan-Pakistan
In November 2014, Jundallah pledged allegiance to ISIL, giving the organization an active presence in Pakistan. On 29 January 2015, Hafiz Saeed Khan, Abdul Rauf and other militants in the region swore an oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Khan was subsequently named as the Wāli (Governor) of a new branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan called Khorasan Province, named after the historical Khorasan region.

Afghan officials told the BBC that Taliban fighters received support from militants affiliated to ISIL in the 2015 Taliban assault on the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. At the same time, there were reports of Taliban forces clashing with ISIL-affiliated militants in the south of Afghanistan, especially in the Kandahar and Helmand provinces. Clashes between the two sides in Nangarhar lead to ISIL establishing a foothold in that region at the Taliban's expense.

In August 2015, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader, Usman Ghazi, swore allegiance to ISIL and announced that the group should be considered part of Wilayah Khorasan. Further recruits came from members of the Taliban disaffected with their leadership.

Nigeria
On 7 March 2015, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to ISIL via an audio message posted on the organisation's Twitter account. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani welcomed the pledge of allegiance, and described it as an expansion of the group's caliphate to West Africa. ISIL publications from late March 2015 began referring to members of Boko Haram as part of Wilayat Gharb Afriqiya (West Africa Province).

North Caucasus
ISIL militants in Syria had issued a threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014: "... we will liberate Chechnya and the entire Caucasus, God willing. Your throne has already teetered, it is under threat and will fall when we come to you because Allah is truly on our side." In early 2015, commanders of the militant Caucasus Emirate group in Chechnya and Dagestan announced their defection and pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In a June 2015 audio statement posted online, ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani accepted the pledges of allegiance and appointed Abu Muhammad al-Qadari (Rustam Asildarov) as ISIL Governor of a new Caucasus Province. He called on other militants in the region to join with and follow al-Qadari.

Europe
A video was released by ISIL, which included Spanish speaking militants saying that they intended to conquer Spain.

On July 10, 2015, ISIL released a video containing a message saying that they intend to conquer the western Balkans, including Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, the Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro.

Background
The 5th edition of ISIL's Dabiq magazine explained the group's process for establishing new provinces. Jihadist groups in a given area must consolidate into a unified body and publicly declare their allegiance to al-Baghdadi. The group must nominate a Wāli (Governor), a Shura Council (religious leadership), and formulate a military strategy to consolidate territorial control and implement ISIL’s version of Sharia law. Once formally accepted, ISIL considers the group to be one of its provinces and gives it support. Dabiq has acknowledged support in regions including East Turkestan (Xinjiang), Indonesia and the Philippines, and claimed that ISIL would eventually establish wilayat in these areas after forming direct relationships with its supporters there.

Analysis
ISIL Spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani has stated that, "The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the khilafah's [caliphate's] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas." ISIL thus rejects the political divisions established by Western powers during World War I in the Sykes–Picot Agreement as it absorbs territory in Syria and Iraq. The Long War Journal writes that the logical implication is that the group will consider preexisting militant groups like Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) illegitimate if they do not nullify themselves and submit to ISIL's authority.

While branches in Libya and Egypt have been very active and attempted to exercise territorial control, branches in other countries like Algeria and Saudi Arabia have been less active and do not seem to have a strong presence.