FROM THE CRADLE 

TO THE GRAVE:

THE RISE AND FALL OF

ISIS

An ISIS militant speaks to crowds during a celebration of the declaration of an Islamic State at a mosque in Fallujah in July 2014
An ISIS militant speaks to crowds during a celebration of the 
declaration of an Islamic State at a mosque in Fallujah in July 2014

April 2013
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qaida's branch in Iraq,
announces the merger of his Islamic State of Iraq with al-Qaida's 
franchise in Syria, forming the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
and expanding his reach into neighboring Syria.
2014
January - Al-Baghdadi's forces overrun the Iraqi city of Fallujah 
in western Anbar province and parts of the nearby provincial
capital of Ramadi. In Syria, they seize sole control of Raqqa 
after driving out rival Syrian rebel factions.
February - Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri disavows 
al-Baghdadi after the Iraqi militant ignores his demands 
that IS leave Syria.
June - ISIS captures Mosul, Iraqi's second-largest city, and 
pushes south as Iraqi forces crumble, eventually capturing 
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and reaching the 
outskirts of Baghdad. When they threaten Shiite holy sites, 
Iraq's top Shiite cleric issues a call to arms, and volunteers
 largely backed and armed by Iran flood to join militias.
June 29 - The group renames itself the Islamic State and 
declares the establishment of a 'caliphate' in its territories in
Iraq and Syria. Al-Baghdadi is declared the caliph.
Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on November 17, 2014
Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani, following an 
airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition on November 17, 2014
July 4 - Al-Baghdadi makes his first public appearance,
 delivering a Friday sermon in Mosul's historic al-Nuri Mosque.
He urges Muslims around the world to swear allegiance 
to the 'caliphate' and obey him as its leader.
August - ISIS militants capture the town of Sinjar west 
of Mosul and begin a systematic slaughter of followers of
 the tiny Yazidi religious community. Women and girls are
kidnapped as sex slaves - and hundreds of them remain missing.
August 8 - The U.S. launches its campaign of airstrikes
against ISIS.
2015
January - Iraqi Kurdish fighters knows as the peshmerga,
 backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, drive ISIS out of several towns
north of Mosul. In Syria, Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. 
airstrikes repel an ISIS onslaught on the town of Kobani on
 the border with Turkey after heavy fighting. Kobani is the
first significant defeat for ISIS.
April 1 - U.S.-backed Iraqi forces retake Tikrit, their first 
major victory against ISIS.
An ISIS militant speaks to crowds during a celebration of the declaration of an Islamic State at a mosque in Fallujah in July 2014
An ISIS militant speaks to crowds during a celebration of the 
declaration of an Islamic State at a mosque in Fallujah in July 2014
May 17 - ISIS militants capture the remainder of Ramadi,
 the capital of Iraq's Anbar province.
2016
February 9 - Iraqi forces recapture Ramadi after months
of fighting. The victory comes at enormous cost, with 
thousands of buildings destroyed or damaged. Almost 
the entire population of hundreds of thousands of people
fled the city.
June 26 - Fallujah is declared liberated by Iraqi forces 
after a five-week battle.
July 3 - ISIS militants set off a gigantic suicide truck 
bomb outside a shopping mall in Baghdad, killing almost 
300 people, the deadliest attack since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
July 10 - Iraqi forces capture the Qayara military base, 
south of Mosul, from ISIS militants.
October 17 - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces 
the start of the operation to liberate Mosul
Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol in a commandeered Iraqi military vehicle in Fallujah in 2014
Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol 
in a commandeered Iraqi military vehicle in Fallujah in 2014
October 21 - ISIS militants and sleeper cells carry out a coordinated wave of attacks, shootings and suicide blasts in the central city of Kirkuk, killing at least 80 people in an attempt to divert attention from the attack on Mosul.
November 1 - Iraqi forces enter Gogjali, the easternmost district of Mosul.
2017
January 24 - Al-Abadi announces eastern Mosul has been 'fully liberated,' but clearing operations on the northern edges of the city continue for weeks.
February 19 - Iraqi forces begun the assault on western Mosul. Within four days, the troops retake Mosul's airport and a nearby military base on the city's southern edge.
March 17 - A single U.S. airstrike kills nearly 200 civilians sheltering in the basement of a west Mosul home, according to residents interviewed by the Associated Press.
May 25 - The Pentagon releases findings from an investigation into the Mosul airstrike. The findings say more than 100 civilians were killed when a U.S. strike hit the building, but blamed the deaths on explosives placed inside the house by ISIS fighters.
May 30 - Mostly Shiite militia forces reached the border with Syria west of Mosul, establishing a key foothold that could aid forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
June 18 - Iraqi forces launch battle for Mosul's Old City, the last ISIS stronghold.
June 21 - As Iraqi forces close in on Mosul's iconic al-Nuri mosque and it's 12th century leaning minaret, ISIS destroys the structure according to Iraqi and coalition officials. ISIS says a U.S. airstrike destroyed the mosque and minaret.
July 10 - Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi declares victory over ISIS in Mosul and end of the extremists' so-called caliphate. Al-Abadi had made similar announcements in previous days despite ongoing clashes.