SUMMARY
The one-sided violence of IS (al-Dawla al-Islamiya, Islamic State – for previous names, see actor description) emerged during the intrastate conflict that erupted in Iraq in 2004. This violence was closely tied to the growing sectarian nature of Iraqi politics following the interstate conflict between Iraq and the USA, the UK, and Australia in 2003. In 2013, after the group changed its name to ISIS and expanded into Syria, it started executing civilians there. In late June 2014, the group changed its name again, to Islamic State (IS), and declared the establishment of a caliphate across parts of Syria and Iraq. Since 2014, numerous groups in other countries have pledged allegiance to IS. UCDP considers all these groups part of IS once they have been formally accepted as a member of IS by the IS leadership. As more and more groups around the world pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, the geographic scope of IS's one-sided violence expanded dramatically. Attacks targeting civilians have since been recorded in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and USA.
From its early days, IS viewed civilians - particularly those affiliated with its perceived enemies - as legitimate targets. Initially, during its insurgency in Iraq the group openly acknowledged that it targeted state employees and foreign supporting staff. Over time, its definition of “legitimate targets” broadened to include anyone involved in the democratic process or working with state institutions, as well as potential recruits for the government security forces. In September 2005, the then-leader of IS (called TQJBR at the time) Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, declared war on the so-called “Rawafidh”, meaning Shia Muslims, citing their role in attacks on Sunnis. After 2013 IS further expanded its targeting to include all those it considered ‘kafir’ (non -Muslim infidels), including Yazidis, Turkmen, Christians, and Shia communities globally. In areas under its control, IS imposed governance through Sharia law. In 2015, it published a document outlining the death penalty for acts such as blasphemy, adultery, sodomy, apostasy, murder, and espionage. The group also staged symbolic terror attacks in Europe to bolster its image and spread fear internationally.
In Iraq, the IS use of one-sided violence took many forms including bombs, massacres, and execution of hostages. Suicide car bombings in public spaces were especially deadly and frequent. Apart from attacks targeting civilians working for the government, many of these attacks focused on Shia dominated or mixed sectarian neighborhoods. The group was regularly accused of using one-sided violence as a means to disrupt development in Iraq and provoke further sectarian bloodshed through retaliatory attacks by other militias. Another common occurrence was the group releasing images of executions of civilian hostages online to maximize the publicity of its actions. As IS has been able to incorporate a multitude of smaller locally organized factions within a larger umbrella, the tactics have both changed and remained the same. The group has consistently claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians and while its core methods—mass killings, bombings, and executions—remained consistent, some tactics were adapted to reflect the capabilities and preferences of local affiliates.
Between 2003 and 2012 IS’s one-sided violence against civilians was confined to Iraq, primarily concentrated in central areas and in and around Baghdad. The only notable attack outside Iraq occurred in 2005, when the group carried out a major bombing in neighboring Jordan.
From 2013 onward, the scale and geographic spread of IS's attacks on civilians expanded dramatically. In addition to escalating its campaign in Iraq, IS began operations in Syria, where it rapidly seized territory and targeted civilians amidst the civil war. By 2014, the group had seized control of eastern Syria and western Iraq. In these areas, they executed hundreds of clan-members, such as those from the Sunni Shuitat clan in Syria, and targeted the Yazidi minority in Iraq with mass killings.
Violence peaked in 2015, which became the deadliest year of IS one-sided violence to date. That year, IS expanded its geographical reach significantly, carrying out attacks in 19 countries. Nigeria, where Boko Haram pledged allegiance to IS and was accepted into its ranks, even surpassed Iraq and Syria in the number of fatalities. In Nigeria, IS targeted mosques and markets with suicide attacks and attacked villages in looting sprees. That year also saw several high-profile terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East, underscoring the group's global reach. In 2016, the group maintained a high level of violence and the number of affected countries reached an all-time high with attacks recorded in 20 countries. Despite increasing international military pressure, IS maintained its capacity to conduct deadly bombings, executions, and massacres, targeting civilians in marketplaces, churches, mosques, and transportation hubs in all around the world.
In 2017, despite losing most of its territorial holdings—including Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria—IS continued to carry out numerous attacks on civilians. Violence was reported in 17 countries, with most fatalities in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Afghanistan. In December 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi officially declared victory over IS, marking the end of its territorial rule in Iraq. This was also the last year in which Iraq recorded the highest number of fatalities from IS attacks. However, the group persisted with lower-intensity one-sided violence in the country, especially in rural areas.
After its territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria, IS increasingly shifted its focus to Africa. The group intensified activity through its regional branches, especially in the Sahel and Central Africa, where it had cultivated networks for years. After 2018, the Central African Wilayat, with representation in DR Congo and, between 2019-2022, Mozambique, became the most violent branch of the group. A separate Wilayat Mozambique was established in 2022. In these two countries, groups armed mainly with machetes and small arms pledged allegiance to IS, conducting near daily ambushes on roads and frequent beheadings of villagers. Local farmers and Christians were often targeted to fulfil the jihadist goal of killing ‘kafir’. One of the deadliest instances occurred in Palma, Mozambique at the end of March 2021, when IS forces shot and beheaded around 750 civilians. Over the following years, the group acquired more sophisticated weaponry, enhancing their capabilities of more complex attacks.
IS first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2004, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 14 June, when the group executed a suicide car bombing on a busy street in Baghdad. Estimates of the number of victims from this attack ranged between four and 13 casualties, but even the lower figure brought the total civilian death toll from IS in 2004 to more than 25 deaths.
