ISIS Proclaims Caliphate
In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh) seized Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and declared a "caliphate" spanning territory from western Syria to central Iraq. At its peak ISIS controlled 8 million people and generated revenue from oil, taxation, and extortion. Its brutal governance included mass executions, sexual enslavement of Yazidis, and high-profile beheadings. A U.S.-led coalition and eventually Syrian Democratic Forces, Iraqi forces, and Russian-backed Syrian troops reversed its territorial gains; the last caliphate territory fell in 2019.
- Year: 2014 CE
- Category: Political
