MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - The establishment and rapid advance of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in the Middle East was provoked by the American invasion in Iraq in 2003, a representative for Syria’s Democratic Union party Abd Salam Muhammad Ali said Thursday.
“The Islamic State is a result, a fruit of the US invasion in Iraq in 2003. It paved the way for the advance of [terrorist] groups,” Ali said.
The IS, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant, originated from the so-called al-Qaeda in Iraq organization, established back in 2004. The extremists’ goals included the fight against the US-led coalition forces and establishing an Islamic State, under Sharia law.
The militants started fighting the Syrian government in 2012 and seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. They have broken away from al-Qaeda and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate in June 2014. Concerned of the rapid advance of the IS jihadists, Washington started to perform airstrikes against the insurgents in August.
The US forces, together with its Arab allies, also launched airstrikes against terrorists on the Syrian territory earlier in this week.
