How ISIS Came to Control Large Portions of Syria and Iraq
By JEREMY ASHKENAS, ARCHIE TSE, DEREK WATKINS and KAREN YOURISH July 3, 2014
The militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria seemed to surprise many American and Iraqi officials with the recent gains it made in its violent campaign to create a new religious state. But the victories achieved in the past few weeks were built on months of maneuvering along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which define a region known as the cradle of civilization.
The Euphrates
Aleppo: Ejected by Other Rebel Groups
In 2013, ISIS emerged from the remnants of Al Qaeda in Iraq and began to operate in Syria. The vacuum created by the country’s civil war provided a place for ISIS to rebuild. Syrian rebel groups initially welcomed ISIS as an ally, but soon realized that they did not have the same goals. ISIS was more interested in forming an Islamic state than in toppling the Syrian government — and had no problem with killing other insurgents to make it happen. These tensions culminated in a revolt against ISIS. The group was driven out of Aleppo, Syria's largest city, in January by the other rebels groups.
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