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Al-Baghdadi
Al-Baghdadi was detained for several months in Camp Bucca, which was a U.S.-run prison in southern Iraq. He was released in 2004. -
death of Al-Zarqawi
June 7, 2006 - Al-Zarqawi is killed in a U.S. strike. -
anouncess creation
October 2006 - AQI leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri announces the creation of Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), and establishes Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as its leader. -
al Qaeda in Iraq tries to ignite war
2006 - Under al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq tries to ignite a sectarian war against the majority Shia community. -
becomes leader
April 2010 - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi becomes leader of ISI after Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri are killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation. -
declaration
April 2013 - ISI declares its absorption of an al Qaeda-backed militant group in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front. -
renouncing ties
February 3, 2014 - Al Qaeda renounces ties to ISIS after months of infighting between al-Nusra Front and ISIS. -
ISIS control
In 2014, ISIS controlled more than 34,000 square miles in Syria and Iraq, from the Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad. -
destroying temple
August 2015 - ISIS destroys antiquities in the historic city of Palmyra in Syria, including the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshami. -
pentagon
April of 2015, the Pentagon announced that the group had lost about a quarter of its land.