report by IHS Conflict Monitor in July 2016 said the jihadist group had lost about a quarter of the territory that it held in January 2015.
IS came to the world's attention in June 2014, when it overran the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, and then moved southwards towards the capital Baghdad, routing the army and threatening to eradicate the country's many ethnic and religious minorities.
At its peak, some 10 million people lived in territory under IS control. IHS Conflict Monitor analysts suggest this figure is now nearer 6 million.

How did IS spread across Iraq and Syria?

The jihadists exploited the chaos and divisions within both Syria and Iraq.
IS grew out of what was al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was formed by Sunni militants after the US-led invasion in 2003 and became a major force in the country's sectarian insurgency.
In 2011, the group joined the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, where it found a safe haven and easy access to weapons.
At the same time, it took advantage of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, as well as widespread Sunni anger at the sectarian policies of the country's Shia-led government.
In 2013, the group began seizing control of territory in Syria and changed its name to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis or Isil).
The following year, Isis overran large swathes of northern and western Iraq, proclaimed the creation of a "caliphate", and became "Islamic State".
An advance into areas controlled by Iraq's Kurdish minority, and the killing or enslaving of thousands of members of the Yazidi religious group, prompted a US-led multinational coalition to launch air strikes on IS positions in Iraq in August 2014.
Exact numbers of casualties from the conflict with IS are not available.
The UN says more than 23,600 civilians have been killed in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq since January 2014.
The organisation no longer keeps track of casualty figures in Syria due to the inaccessibility of many areas and the conflicting reports from the various parties to the war there.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported in September 2016 that more than 300,000 people, including 86,000 civilians, had been killed since March 2011.
It warned that the actual death toll could be 70,000 higher as many armed groups did not announce fatalities.

Who is fighting 'Islamic State'?

The US-led coalition has conducted more than 9,600 air strikes against IS targets in Iraq since August 2014.

The UK launched its first air strikes on the group in Iraq the following month. Other nations taking part include Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Jordan, and the Netherlands.

In Syria, the US-led air campaign began in September 2014. Since then, more than 5,000 strikes have been carried out by coalition forces, which include Australia, Bahrain, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the UK.
Russia is not part of the coalition, but its jets began air strikes against what it called "terrorists" in Syria in September 2015.
There is little information from official sources about the Russian air strikes. However, theInstitute for the Study of War says evidence suggests Russian planes have targeted deep into opposition-held territory, and helped Syrian government forces to surround rebels in the city of Aleppo.
Source: BBC News


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