The jihadist group Islamic State seized swaths of territory in Iraq and neighboring Syria in the first half of 2014, including the city of Mosul in June 2014. The U.S.-led coalition was established to combat the Islamic State in September 2014. Around the same time, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF, an umbrella organization of dozens of militias, many pro-Iranian, was also established to combat the Islamic State. At its peak in late 2014, the Islamic State held around 40% of Iraqi territory. However, by March 2018, the U.S.-led coalition announced that it had recaptured 98% of Islamic State-held territory in Iraq.
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