The bombing and shooting rampage at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport marked two years from the day Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told the world he was establishing the caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The terror group sent shockwaves through the Middle East as activists swept through Iraq and Syria to take advantage of the diversion of government troops with civil unrest to grab massive tracts of land.
ISIL funded a global terror campaign from seized oil wells, mines and banks that exported bombing and shooting falsely in the name of Islam.
The roll of shame includes attacks on tourists in Tunisia, bombings and shootings in Paris, the downing of an Egyptian Air jet, beheadings, rape and torture.
Sympathisers have launched their own attacks overseas, including the tragic loss of life at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Thousands of innocents killed
Thousands of innocents have lost their lives, while millions have lost their homes and futures.
But recently ISIL has started to lose ground to militias with the backing of airstrikes from a coalition led by the USA, Britain, France and the United Arab Emirates.
Government-led forces in Iraq have recaptured the important city of Fallujah and the port of Sirte in Libya.
Coalition governments report the threat from ISIL is diminished but still potent as airstrikes and land assaults have hit supply lines, communications and heavy weapons.
Along with a weakening grip and shrinking territory, ISIL is losing money to fund their war. Less territory means fewer people and businesses to tax, which the US estimates has seen income drop by a third in a year.
Loss of face
Foreign fighters are said to be fleeing ISIL positions disillusioned at the promises of the group’s leaders.
However, ISIL is regrouping and looking at terror strikes rather than territory.
The focus in Iraq is moving to the country’s second city Mosul, where ISIL rules more than a million people.
In Syria, militias are turning their attention on the northern city of Raqqa, which is the capital and stronghold of the caliphate.
If Raqqa falls, not only will ISIL suffer a huge military defeat, but a catastrophic loss of face.
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