ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), is a Sunni jihadist group with a particularly violent In 2013, the group changed its name to the Islamic State of Iraq and al- Sham (ISIS); the change was part of an effort to affirm control over fighters it hadIslamic State Khorasan (IS-K) · Formation and Relationship with ISIS Core · Leadership and Strategy · Operations and Tactics · Inter-Group Competition in Khorasan. The Islamic State – also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh – emerged from the remnants of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a local offshoot of al Qaeda founded by Abu Musab and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – is a Salafi-Jihadist militant organization that seeks to establish an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria