A 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 weap...
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