The lightning rise of Islamic State (IS), the jihadist militant group that has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq since 2014, has sent shockwaves around the Middle East and worldwide. It is notoriously brutal, inflicting mass killings, abductions and beheadings on the people living in the areas it controls. In November 2015 it claimed responsibility for the attacks in Paris which saw 130 people killed. A US-led coalition of countries to fight IS began air strikes in Iraq in August 2014 and in Syria a month later. According to the US Department of Defence, the following countries have participated alongside the US in coalition air strikes against IS in Iraq: Australia, Belgium, Canada,...
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