FACT BRIEF

Did the US support rebel groups that later formed ISIS?

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

By Austin Tannenbaum

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YES

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) began as an offshoot of the Islamist group al-Qaida, which formed to oppose the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The U.S., then engaged in the Cold War, funnelled weapons and money to al-Qaida to aid its opposition. The Soviets were eventually driven out of Afghanistan and the sharia-based Taliban regime was established. Al-Qaida went on to commit acts of terrorism against the U.S., including 9/11.

More recently, the U.S. armed Syrian rebel groups fighting against the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War. One of these groups, al-Qaida in Iraq, later combined with other Islamist groups to form ISIS. A 2017 study from weapons tracker Conflict Armament Research found ISIS possessed "significant quantities" of U.S.-supplied weapons and ammunition.

While U.S.-backed efforts beginning in 2014 reclaimed all ISIS-controlled territory, the group remains active in the Middle East.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Encyclopædia Britannica Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant | History, Leadership, & Facts

AP News A timeline of more than 40 years of war in Afghanistan

Encyclopædia Britannica al-Qaeda in Iraq | History, Leadership, & Founder

The Hill Study shows US weapons given to Syrian rebels ended up in ISIS hands

BBC Islamic State group defeated as final territory lost, US-backed forces say

Wilson Center Explainer: The Islamic State in 2021

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