Islamic State (IS) Activity
Unprecedented in History of Terrorism

The Islamic State (IS) has surpassed any previous terrorist group in history in terms of the amount of territory taken and held around the world, its media effort, influence on other terrorist groups, ability to inspire attacks and more. In terms of sheer volume and scope, al-Qaeda, which still poses a serious threat today, pales in comparison. Al-Qaeda, of which IS was formally a part in 2004, laid the groundwork for the creation of IS in its current form, which IS launched itself into on 29 Jun. 2014 with incredible speed.

Going forward IS can be expected to continue to trigger previously unseen levels of inspired attacks, expand its unmatched media effort, capture more territory and expand its global reach through the absorption of more jihadi groups and the creation of new wilayats. IS can no longer be viewed as an Iraq/Syria issue but rather as the global organization that it now is. IS poses an unprecedented threat unlike anything that has ever before existed in the history of terrorism.

The below stats are only examining IS from 29 Jun. 2014 when its latest iteration was announced. If the group's complete history going back to 1999 was taken into consideration, many of these numbers would be significantly, and in some cases, exponentially higher. The focus on the 15 past months is because it is most indicative of where things are headed as the incredible growth that IS has achieved under its current strategy continues.

IS Stats for Just the Past 15 Months (29 Jun. 2014 - 9 Oct. 2015):

• IS has released more than 129 execution videos, far more than any other terrorist group in history.

• IS has produced more than 790 audio/video releases, more than al-Qaeda's as-Sahab released in 16 years.
(For a report on IS video releases in 2015, click here.)

• The formal structure of IS expanded to now includes 35 wilayats spanning 11 countries. It includes Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Nigeria and Russia.
(For a map of IS wilayats, click here. For a link analysis chart on IS's structure, click here.)

• Thirty-eight and counting terrorist and rebel groups from 17 different countries pledged allegiance or support to IS. The countries include Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Philippines, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Indonesia, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, India and Sudan. This has far eclipsed the pace at which al-Qaeda formally brought groups under its structure during its peak.
(For a link analysis chart of groups supporting IS, click here.)

• Core IS has killed more than 9,000 people and injured more than 4,000.
(Since it is extremely difficult to properly attribute attacks in Iraq and Syria, these numbers are believed to be far higher.)

• IS has inspired 17 attacks that were executed in seven countries outside of insurgent theaters. The countries include the US, Canada, Australia, France, Denmark, Germany and Belgium. The rate of inspired attacks, geographic scope and diversity of location are unprecedented, especially when factoring in the countless foiled plots by inspired attackers.
(For a map of IS inspired and directed attacks, click here. For a link analysis chart of inspired and directed attacks, click here.)

NOTE: Core IS is considered to be the primary IS element in Iraq and Syria. IS overall includes all of its wilayats around the world but not groups that pledged allegiance/support while maintaining their original identity. All of the data and source materials behind the above stats are contained in the IntelCenter Database (ICD).

Reporting and original source materials, including incident reports, photos and videos and more, are contained in the IntelCenter Database (ICD). Sign up for a free 10-day trial of the ICD and see additional details by clicking here.