Editing The Islamic State (section)

=== Current status ===
Beginning primarily in 2017, as the Islamic State lost more swathes of territory and lost control over major settlements and cities, the group increasingly resorted to more terror bombings and insurgency operations, using its scattered underground networks of sleeper cells across regions in the middle east and various offshoots and adherents. The collapse of its final Middle Eastern territories in 2019 after the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani propelled the group into full insurgency phase in the regions it once controlled, while retaining influence via propaganda efforts and in remote hideouts, such as in the Syrian Desert.

In July 2019, United Nations analysts on the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee warned al-Baghdadi was plotting a comeback from Iraq. He could launch international terrorist attacks before the end of the year in European nations. By 7 October 2019, it was thought that ISIL could re-emerge with the withdrawal of American troops from the region.

On 26 October 2019, al-Baghdadi was targeted by U.S. military and died after he detonated a suicide vest in Barisha, Idlib, Northwest Syria. U.S. President [[Donald Trump]] confirmed in a televised announcement from the White House later that day that al-Baghdadi had died during a raid by US special forces in Idlib.

In September 2019, a statement attributed to ISIL's propaganda arm, the Amaq news agency, claimed that [[Abdullah Qardash]] was named as al-Baghdadi's successor. Analysts dismissed this statement as a fabrication, and relatives were reported as saying that Qardash died in 2017. Rita Katz, a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of SITE Intelligence, noted that the alleged statement used a different font when compared to other statements and it was never distributed on Amaq or ISIL channels.

On 29 October 2019, Trump stated on social media that al-Baghdadi's "number one replacement" had been killed by American forces, adding: "Most likely would have taken the top spot - Now he is also Dead!" While Trump did not specify a name, a U.S. official later confirmed that Trump was referring ISIL spokesman and senior leader [[Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir]], who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Syria two days earlier. Less than a week after the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on 31 October, ISIL named [[Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi]] as Baghdadi's successor, indicating that the group still considers itself a caliphate despite having lost all of its territory in Iraq and Syria. Two other individuals close to Baghdadi and believed to have been present in his last video appearance, the Saudi [[Abu Saleh al-Juzrawi]] and the Tunisian [[Abu Othman al-Tunsi]], were also named as possible candidates to succeed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. 

Two [[Suicide Bombing|suicide bombers]] linked to ISIS [[2021 Baghdad bombings|attacked an open-air market]] in central Baghdad on January 21, 2021, killing 32 people. In April 2021 Russian forces killed dozens of Islamic State militants in a series of air strikes following the Islamic State's killing of two Russian pilots.

ISIS' Central Africa branch captured the port town of Mocímboa da Praia in Northern Mozambique in August 2020. It has been theorized that Mocímboa da Praia could possibly be functioning as ISIS' current central headquarters. About a year later, Rwandan and Mozambican forces retook the city. On August 26, 2021, a suicide bomber working for the Islamic State [[2021 Kabul airport attack|killed 182 people]], including 13 US military personnel and 2 British civilians, at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

On January 20, 2022, Islamic State militants in Syria bombed the gates at a prison in al-Hasakah in Syria, starting a riot in which hundreds of Islamic State detainees escaped. Following the breakout, they attacked and occupied buildings in the surrounding neighborhoods and took 23 hostages. By January 23 the Coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had regained most of the lost areas, including part of the prison.

On 3 February 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that U.S. military forces successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation in Atme, resulting in the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. A senior White House official told Reuters that al-Qurashi then detonated a bomb which killed himself and 12 more people, including members of his family. Following the explosion, U.S. special operations commandos entered the building and had a shootout with survivors, including a lieutenant of al-Qurashi, who was also killed.

According to initial reports from the Syria Civil Defense (White Helmets), four women and six children were among the dead. Later reports from the Syria Civil Defense claimed 13 people were killed. A fighter of [[Tahrir al-Sham]] was also killed in a brief shootout with U.S. forces after he noticed the raid taking place.

In March 2022, ISIS reached Israel carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians