EXPLAINER-What is Islamic State, the militant group Jordan targeted in Syria?

Islamic State, which once controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria and is seeking to rebuild ​its presence in the region, is back in focus after Jordan said it killed more than 20 of ​the group's militants in airstrikes on southern Syria. Jordan said the strikes targeted militant ‌hideouts ​after investigators linked suspects in last week's church attack, which killed nine people, to "terrorist groups" operating across the border in Syria. Jordanian security forces also arrested three suspects after a shootout.

Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack. WHAT IS ISLAMIC STATE?

The Sunni Muslim group emerged from the conflicts in ‍Iraq and Syria and quickly proclaimed a caliphate - a form of Islamic government - declaring its ‌rule over all Muslims and eclipsing al Qaeda as the world's most powerful jihadist organisation. At its peak between 2014 and 2017, it controlled vast areas of Iraq and Syria, ruling over millions of people. It had a base a 30-minute drive from Baghdad, and also seized the city of Sirte on Libya's Mediterranean coast.

In territory under its control, the group imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law and became notorious for public executions, torture and other acts of brutality, often filmed and distributed as propaganda. It also carried out ‌or inspired attacks in dozens of countries. The caliphate eventually collapsed after a sustained military campaign by a US-led coalition.

WHERE DOES IT OPERATE NOW? After losing its strongholds in the Syrian city of Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, the group ‌took refuge in the hinterlands of the two countries.

It retains a presence in Syria and Iraq and has established activities in parts of Africa, Afghanistan ‍and Pakistan. Fighters are scattered in autonomous cells, Islamic State leadership is clandestine and its overall size is hard to quantify. The UN estimates a membership of 10,000 in Islamic State heartlands.

Iraqi intelligence and security officials say the group is no longer capable of holding land but it has established dangerous sleeper cells. Concerns have grown that the withdrawal of remaining US forces from Iraq could leave a security vacuum that Islamic State could exploit. The group claimed responsibility for an October 5 attack that ⁠killed an Iraqi ​federal policeman near Kirkuk, its first reported assault on Iraqi security forces ⁠since the US military completed its withdrawal. Iraqi authorities have also said they foiled an Islamic State suicide bombing plot.

Jordan has long been part of the US-led coalition against Islamic State. The Islamist group captured Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh after his aircraft crashed in Syria and in 2015 released footage purportedly showing him ⁠being burnt alive. Although Jordan is one of the more stable countries in the Middle East, its authorities have repeatedly foiled Islamist militant plots over the years.

Since suffering major setbacks in the Middle East, Islamic State has pivoted towards Africa. According to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, 86% of ​the group's global operations during the first three months of 2026 occurred on the continent. Many foreign fighters have joined Islamic State's Khorasan branch (ISIS-K), named after a historic region spanning parts of present-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia.

WHERE HAS ⁠IT CARRIED OUT RECENT ATTACKS? Middle Eastern leaders and their Western allies have warned that Islamic State could exploit the 2024 toppling of Bashar al-Assad's government to stage a comeback in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The group has declared a new phase of operations in Syria against the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, carrying out a spate ⁠of ​attacks, including one that killed four Syrian government security personnel near Raqqa. Sources have told Reuters that Islamic State has been reactivating sleeper cells in Syria, gathering intelligence on targets and distributing weapons, silencers and explosives.

A report by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism said Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers had been targeted in five foiled assassination attempts by Islamic State. In July, preliminary investigations into the cell responsible for bombings in Damascus showed it was linked to Islamic State, a senior Syrian security official said. Two explosions ⁠near a hotel hosting visiting French President Emmanuel Macron wounded 18 people.

Islamic State has also inspired hard-to-detect lone-wolf attacks. The 2025 shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach - Australia's worst mass shooting in nearly 30 years - raised questions over ⁠whether the group was inspiring those operations once again. The police ⁠said Islamic State appeared to have influenced the gunmen, who killed 15 people.

Demonstrating its international reach, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the 2024 attack on a concert hall near Moscow that killed 149 people. WHAT ARE ITS GOALS AND TACTICS?

Islamic State's stated aim is to spread its extreme form of Islam, and rule over Muslims. Iraqi security officials say Islamic State has undergone a significant transformation since ‌losing its territorial strongholds, evolving from a conventional ‌military force into a dispersed underground movement that relies on clandestine cells, loosely connected operatives and courier networks.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed ​Rasheed and David Lewis; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)