Terrorist Organization
Appears in 6 stories · Last updated May 30, 2026
As of May 2026: Degraded but still the world's deadliest terrorist organization by attack count
At the peak in 2014, terrorism killed roughly 33,000 people worldwide — driven largely by the Islamic State's rapid territorial conquest across Iraq and Syria. Twelve years later, the Global Terrorism Index for 2026 reports that annual deaths have dropped 83%, to 5,582, the lowest figure since 2007. Terrorist incidents fell 22% to 2,944, and 81 countries recorded improvements.
Updated May 30
As of May 2026: Degraded insurgency; no territorial control; conducting low-level guerrilla operations
Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State in December 2017 after recapturing Mosul and eliminating the group's territorial caliphate. Eight years later, Iraqi F-16s are still hunting militants in desert hideouts—a reminder that defeating an insurgency's territory is not the same as defeating its fighters.
Updated May 27
As of May 2026: Active cells operating in Turkey despite territorial defeat in 2019
A six-hour gun battle at 2am in a Turkish village left three police officers and six ISIS militants dead on December 30. Officers İlker Pehlivan, Turgut Külünk, and Yasin Koçyiğit died storming a house in Elmalik where militants used women and children as human shields, refusing police pleas to surrender. Eight more officers and a night watchman were wounded before the standoff ended at 9:40am with all five women and six children evacuated safely.
Updated May 18
As of May 2026: Regrouping in Syria's desert badlands after losing territorial control in 2019
A lone ISIS gunman killed two Iowa National Guardsmen and a civilian interpreter in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13, 2025—the first American combat deaths since Bashar al-Assad fled the country a year earlier. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded with Operation Hawkeye Strike.
Updated May 16
As of May 2026: Conducting insurgency operations in Syria and Iraq
On December 13, 2025, a Syrian security officer allegedly affiliated with ISIS opened fire on US troops near Palmyra, killing two Iowa National Guard members (Staff Sgts. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard) and interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat. The US responded six days later with Operation Hawkeye Strike: 100 precision munitions against 70 ISIS targets in central Syria via fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery, plus Jordanian F-16s, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called 'a declaration of vengeance.'
As of May 2026: ISIS has not claimed the Palmyra insider shooting, but reporting said it claimed subsequent attacks on Syrian security forces after the U.S. retaliation.
In the first post-strike readout of
Updated May 15
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