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The war against IS: key developments
The main developments in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq since August 2014
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The main developments in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq since August 2014.
First air strikes
August 8, 2014: US jets strike IS positions in northern Iraq in response to an appeal from Baghdad, in the first American military operation in the country since troops withdrew in late 2011.
Already entrenched in neighboring Syria, IS seized swathes of Iraqi territory in a lighting offensive launched in June 2014 marked by the frantic retreat of security forces.
Particularly exposed are Iraqi Kurdistan and Christian and Yazidi minorities.
On September 5: US President Barack Obama vows to build "a broad, international coalition" to defeat IS.
September 23: the US and its Arab allies launch strikes on IS in Syria.
IS driven out of Syria's Kobane
January 26, 2015: IS driven out of the Syrian border town of Kobane after more than four months of fighting led by Kurdish forces backed by coalition air strikes.
On the same day, an Iraqi military official announces that the eastern province of Diyala has been liberated.
Iraq's Tikrit retaken
On March 31, Baghdad announces the "liberation" of Tikrit, 160 kilometres (99 miles) north of Baghdad.
Government forces backed by Shiite militias retake Tikrit after a vast operation launched on March 2 against the IS, which had controlled it for nearly 10 months.
The battle is made easier by the fact that most of Tikrit's 200,000 inhabitants had fled.
The operation throws the spotlight on Iran's role through its support for Shiite militias and volunteers.
But in May the IS takes Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi, and then Syria's famed ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
IS driven from border town
June 16: Kurdish militia backed by Syrian rebel force and coalition air strikes seize the key Syrian border town with Turkey of Tal Abyad from IS, which had occupied it for more than a year.
Tal Abyad was one of two main transit points on a key supply route to de facto IS capital Raqa.
The Kurds deny an accusation by Ankara that they are engaged in "ethnic cleansing" of non-Kurdish populations.
Anbar offensive
July 13: Iraqi troops launch a new ground offensive against IS in the western province of Anbar, with coalition air support, as they tighten the noose around the province's two main cities, Ramadi and Fallujah.
Turkey declares war on jihadists
July 24: Turkish warplanes bomb IS positions inside Syria for the first time in a dramatic hardening of Ankara's stance, reportedly killing 9 IS fighters.
Turkey gives Washington the green light for US warplanes to fly operations over Syria from its key southeastern air base of Incirlik.(++++)
