Sunni militants have terrorized Iraq and Syria

   

http://www.infoplease.com/news/2014/isis-explained.html

   The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), terrorized large swaths of Iraq and Syria during 2014 in its drive to establish an Islamic state in the Middle East ruled by strict shariah law. The militant group is made up of fundamentalist Sunni Muslims and foreign jihadists. The group, formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), is headed by Iraqi-born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry, who goes by the nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Baghdadi is also the self-proclaimed caliph of the Islamic world. He was associated with Al Qaeda as a religious figure early in the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and became the leader of AQI in 2010. In April 2013, Baghdadi changed the name of the organization from AQI to ISIS.

      U.S. troops arrested him in Falluja in 2004 during the uprising there by Sunnis. Not considered a serious threat, he was released after a few months in detention. (Some reports say he was held for several years.) Baghdadi was a follower of Jordanian militant Abu musan, the leader of AQI who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2006. He is believed to have been born in Iraq in 1971 and earned a Ph.D. in Islamic studies in Baghdad. He has intentionally shrouded details of his life in secrecy, and little else is known about him. Al Queada distanced itself from ISIS as it grew increasingly violent and intolerant even of Muslims.