ISIS - the how/ the territory

MIDDLE EAST

A Rogue State Along Two Rivers

How ISIS Came to Control Large Portions of Syria and Iraq

By JEREMY ASHKENAS, ARCHIE TSE, DEREK WATKINS and KAREN YOURISH July 3, 2014

The militant group called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria seemed to surprise many American and Iraqi officials with the recent gains it made in its violent campaign to create a new religious state. But the victories achieved in the past few weeks were built on months of maneuvering along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which define a region known as the cradle of civilization.

Cities:

 ISIS Control

 Attacked by ISIS

The Euphrates

SYRIA

SYRIA

IRAQ

Lake Tharthar

Jarablous

Sarrin

Minbij

Deir Hafir

Ain Issa

Maskana

Tabqa Dam

Raqqa

Mouhasan

Al Bab

Aleppo

Tebni

Suwar

Deir al-Zour

Mayadeen

Abu Kamal

Qaim

Rawa

Ana

Haditha Dam

Burwana

Baghdadi

Hit

Kubaysa

Ramadi

Habbaniya

Baghdad

Mahmudiya

Madaen

Musayyib

Baquba

Dujail

Balad

Tarmiya

Abu Ghraib

Falluja

The Tigris

After establishing footholds in Syria and Anbar Province, ISIS turned to northern Iraq. The swift capture of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and a key political, military and commercial hub, gave ISIS a launching pad for a rapid series of attacks in which its fighters seized towns along the Tigris River heading south to Baghdad.

Baghdad

Mahmudiya

Madaen

Baquba

Dujail

Balad

Balad Air Base

Tarmiya

Baiji

Azwya

Mosul

Qaiyara Air Base

Qaraqosh

Tal Afar

Dohuk

Sumel

Kalak

Khidir

Bartella

Tel Isqof

Alqosh

Khalis

Abu Ghraib

Falluja

Hawija

Tikrit

Samarra

Baquba: Cycle of Violence 

Attacked by ISIS

About a week after capturing Mosul, ISIS militants took control of several neighborhoods here but were pushed back by security forces. The next day, the bodies of 44 Sunni prisoners were found in a government-controlled police station in Baquba, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. Baquba, and the surrounding province of Diyala, is a volatile mix of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, and was the scene of some of the worst sectarian violence in past years.

Additional reporting by TIM ARANGO, MIKE BOSTOCK, C.J. CHIVERS, MOHAMMAD GHANNAM, BEN HUBBARD, ROD NORDLAND, NILKANTH PATEL and ALISSA RUBIN. Satellite images by NASA/USGS Landsat (2014).

Sources: Caerus Associates, Congressional Research Service, Institute for the Study of War, Long War Journal, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

Note: ISIS Control indicates places controlled by ISIS as of July 3. Attacked by ISIS indicates places that ISIS has attacked, tried to seize or once controlled. Statuses shown are for places where information was available.