The Islamic State group's tactics in Iraq have evolved since then ‘ A caliphate no more - all the land ISIS has lost in the last year’, Associated Press, 9 November 2017 ' With Loss of Its Caliphate, ISIS May Return to Guerrilla Roots', 18 October 2017 H. At the same time, in Syria, it lost its de facto capital, Raqqa. In July 2017, the Iraqi government announced the liberation of Mosul in mid-October, the group withdrew from Hawijah, their last stronghold in Kirkuk. In the year 2017, the Islamic State group lost most of the territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria, ending its proto-caliphate. Armed Conflict in 2014, Oxford University Press, 2014, p 141.Īfter taking control of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in June 2014, the Islamic State group announced that they had established a caliphate in the territory they control across Iraq and Syria. In light of the use of heavy artillery by the Iraqi armed forces, the frequency of armed confrontations between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State group, the number of casualties, and the number of people forced to flee, the required degree of intensity was reached at the latest by January 2014. 'UN: Clashes in Iraq’s Anbar Displaced 300,00', Al Jazeera, 12 February 2014. According to the United Nations, the fighting in Anbar Province displaced up to 300,000 people by February 2014. Statement by the President of the Security Council, UN Doc S/PRST/2014/1. The Security Council, which had remained largely silent on the situation in Iraq during 2013, issued a presidential statement addressing the worsening security situation on January 10. al-Salhy, ‘Iraqi Army Bombards Falluja in Preparation for Ground Assault’, Reuters, 2 February 2014. Abdul-Zahra, ‘Iraqi Government: Airstrike Kills 25 Militants’, The Washington Post, 7 January 2014 S. In response, the Iraqi government resorted to air strikes against suspected positions of the Islamic State group and started shelling Fallujah. Sly, 'Al-Qaeda Force Captures Fallujah Amid Rise in Violence in Iraq', The Washington Post, 3 January 2014. Ghazi and T.Arango, ‘Qaeda-Aligned Militants Threaten Key Iraqi Cities’, The New York Times, 2 January 2014 L. Violent crackdowns of anti-government protests in Anbar Province led to new unrest and armed clashes, which were seized by the Islamic State group to expand their operations in Iraq and to assume control over parts of Ramadi and Fallujah by the beginning of January 2014. First report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 6 of resolution 2110 (2013), UN doc S/2013/661, 13 November 2013, §26. For further information, see 'non-international armed conflict - intensity of violence' in our classification section.ĭuring 2013, the levels of armed violence in Iraq increased significantly and the death toll reached its highest level since 2008. Various indicative factors are used to assess whether a given situation has met the required intensity threshold, such as the number, duration, and intensity of individual confrontations the types of weapons and military equipment used the number of persons and types of forces participating in the fighting the number of casualties the extent of material destruction the number of civilians fleeing and the involvement of the United Nations Security Council. For further information, see 'non-international armed conflict' in our classification section. Government forces are presumed to satisfy the criteria of organization. Second, in every non-international armed conflict, at least one side to the conflict must be a non-state armed group which must exhibit a certain level of organization in order to qualify as a party to the non-international armed conflict.
Two criteria need to be assessed in order to answer the question whether a situation of armed violence amounts to a non-international armed conflict.įirst, the level of armed violence must reach a certain degree of intensity that goes beyond internal disturbances and tensions