Pushed into the shadows, Islamic State still has global reach

Since the peak of its power seven years ago, when it ruled millions of people in the Middle East and struck fear across the world with deadly bombings and shootings, Islamic State has slipped back into the shadows.

Its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria folded under a sustained military campaign by a U.S.-led coalition, and it has suffered other setbacks in the Middle East.

This week it lost its second leader in two years when Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Quraishi detonated explosives during a U.S. military raid in northwest Syria, killing himself and family members.

But Islamic State expanded in Africa’s Sahel region last year and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan may open up opportunities to strengthen its presence there.