The group began in 2004 as al Qaeda in Iraq, before rebranding as ISIS two years later. It was an ally of – and had similarities with -- Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda: both were radical anti-Western militant groups devoted to establishing an independent Islamic state in the region. But ISIS – unlike al Qaeda, which disowned the group in early 2014 – has proven to be more brutal and more effective at controlling territory it has seized.
