Publisher's Synopsis
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, is growing steadily in size, power, and influence, as its militant ranks have blossomed. In the summer of 2013, ISIS carried out attacks on two different prisons in Iraq, and in those attacks freed hundreds of experienced al-Qaeda fighters and leaders. The group is now able to carry out approximately 40 mass casualty attacks every month. Multiple car bombings struck the capital this morning. The nearly 9,000 deaths in Iraq last year made it the bloodiest since U.S. forces departed in 2011. The civil war in neighboring Syria only further strengthens this group. Militants are able to flow freely between Iraq and Syria, providing ISIS an advantage as it works to advance its regional vision of a radical Islamist state.
