** Islamic State and Its Affiliates

By Karen Leigh, Jason French and Jovi Juan

http://graphics.wsj.com/islamic-state-and-its-affiliates/

Islamic State announced the formation of a caliphate in the heart of the Middle East in June 2014. Now, some 22 months later, it claims affiliates in countries as far-flung as Nigeria, Russia and Afghanistan. The nature of the ties between the Sunni Muslim extremist group and its branches varies widely, and can be murky, as information about the group is often difficult to obtain. Islamic State and its affiliates are prolific distributors of online propaganda material, including videos depicting hostage executions, battle training and threats to western countries. Here is a look at some of the Islamic State affiliates that have emerged. 

Numbers: About 5,000 members, according to Libyan intelligence and U.S. officials

In Libya, Islamic State took root amid the political turmoil in the North African nation since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Since late 2014, three armed Islamist groups have claimed allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Tripoli Province in the west, Barqa Province in the east, and Fezzan Province in the south. The three groups are mainly differentiated by location and are believed to be tied to a central command. The factions have fighters in major Libyan cities—including the capital Tripoli, Misrata, Derna and Benghazi—and frequently battle security forces in disparate areas of the country. Over time, Tripoli Province has become dominant among the three groups, operating in the most populous territory in Libya. 

Tripoli

Mediterranean Sea

Derna

TUNISIA

Misrata

Benghazi

Sirte

TRIPOLI

EGYPT

BARQA

200 miles

LIBYA

200 km

FEZZAN

ALGERIA

CHAD

NIGER

It also controls the Mediterranean coast city of Sirte, Gadhafi’s birthplace—significantly, the only city outside Syria and Iraq that is controlled by a group related to Islamic State. The U.S. has twice targeted and killed Islamic State figures in territory controlled by Tripoli Province. Meanwhile, the other two factions operate in areas with large oil reserves, potentially boosting their economic power.

Source: Libyan intelligence officials and military analysts; Video: edited from Tripoli, Barqa, Fezzan Province propaganda videos

— Tamer El-Ghobashy

Yemen

SAN’A PROVINCE 

Numbers: Believed to be in the hundreds, according to analysts

San’a Province was the first major Islamic State affiliate to emerge in Yemen, in March 2015. Shortly after, the group claimed responsibility for a series of deadly bombings at mosques across the Yemeni capital San’a, taking advantage of a security vacuum resulting from a war between a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition and Shiite rebels. 

200 miles

SAUDI ARABIA

200 km

OMAN

YEMEN

San’a

Red

Sea

Gulf of Aden

DJIBOUTI

SOMALILAND

Like other smaller groups in Yemen aligned with Islamic State, analysts say, the ranks of San’a Province are filled mainly by defectors from the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an al Qaeda offshoot considered one of the world’s most dangerous terror groups. Many have been lured by Islamic State’s slick propaganda and brutality.

Source: Analysts; SITE Intelligence Group; local news reports; Video: edited from San’a Province propaganda videos

— Asa Fitch

Northern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

SINAI PROVINCE 

Numbers: In the thousands, according to terrorism researchers

Once Egypt’s most powerful independent militant group, Sinai Province—formerly called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis—pledged its allegiance to Islamic State in November 2014. Operating mainly in the northern Sinai Peninsula, it is made up of Egyptian jihadists who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with indigenous Bedouins and Egyptian defectors from al Qaeda. 

Mediterranean Sea

ISRAEL

JORDAN

SINAI

PENINSULA

Cairo

SAUDI

ARABIA

Nile River

Sharm

El-Sheikh

EGYPT

100 miles

100 km

Its attacks have grown in strength and sophistication: In July 2015, it carried out a coordinated wave of suicide bombings against Egyptian army outposts in the Sinai and fought government security forces, killing at least 21 troops. Three months later, it claimed responsibility for bringing down a Russian passenger jet over the northern Sinai, killing all 224 passengers and crew. Although Sinai Province claims no control over territory, it has the support of some residents in the Sinai for its distribution of basic goods amid Egyptian military operations that have isolated the region. Egypt’s government denies that Islamic State has any popular support in the country.

Source: Analysts; The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; video: edited from Sinai Province propaganda videos

— Tamer El-Ghobashy

Concentrated in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, also present in parts of Helmand province.

KHORASAN PROVINCE 

Numbers: Several thousand fighters, according to the Afghan government

In January 2015, Islamic State announced it was forming a new province, or wiliyat, in Afghanistan. Named after a historical region that includes parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Khorasan Province is made up mostly of disaffected members of the Pakistani Taliban, as well as former fighters from the Afghan Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and other militant Islamist groups. 

200 miles

TAJIKISTAN

UZBEK.

200 km

TURKMENISTAN

NANGARHAR

Kabul

AFGHANISTAN

Islamabad

Kandahar

PAKISTAN

IRAN

Khorasan Province has clashed with Afghan security forces and the Afghan Taliban, with the latter setting up a special fighting unit to combat the upstart jihadist rivals. The two groups have often fought each other, most notably in eastern Nangarhar province, where Khorasan Province has sought to establish a stronghold. The U.S. and Afghan military have targeted and killed many of Khorasan’s new leaders. Khorasan Province this year claimed responsibility for its first attack in Afghanistan, saying it carried out the Jan. 16, 2016, attack on the Pakistani consulate in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, which resulted in the deaths of at least seven members of the Afghan security forces. A week later, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed to “bury” the group.

Source: Security and government officials; local residents; video: edited from Khorasan Province propoganda videos.

— Margherita Stancati

Northeastern Nigeria, with cross-border attacks on Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

BOKO HARAM (ISLAMIC STATE WEST AFRICA PROVINCE) 

Numbers: In the thousands, according to Nigerian government estimates

After courting Islamic State for months, Boko Haram in March 2015 pledged its allegiance to the group and officially changed its name to Islamic State West Africa Province. Following a recent Nigerian military offensive, Boko Haram doesn’t control as much territory in northeastern Nigeria as it once did. 

200 miles

CHAD

NIGER

200 km

Chibok

BENIN

NIGERIA

Abuja

CAMEROON

Lagos

Gulf of Guinea

Also, hundreds of its members have surrendered to Nigerian government forces since the new alignment with Islamic State, some complaining about a confused chain of command. But the sect remains a threat to Nigeria and its neighbors, mounting cross-border attacks in Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Boko Haram has been responsible for nearly all of Nigeria’s notable terror attacks in recent years, including the 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls from a school in Chibok that spawned the global “Bring Back Our Girls” campaign. More than 28,000 Nigerians have died in violence amid Boko Haram’s war on government, according to the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Another 2.5 million people have fled their homes, the United Nations says.