Militants from the Islamist group ISIS have declared a new caliphate in Iraq, the culmination of weeks of a deadly campaign waged throughout the country's north.
A spokesman from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham announced the caliphate, or Islamic state, in a recording that was uploaded to the Internet on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported. The spokesman called for loyalty from all other Islamist organizations for the group, which from now on is to be known as the Islamic State.
"We have all had the requirements of the Islamic state like fundraising, almsgiving, penalties, and prayers and still have only one thing which is the caliphate," spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said on what was also the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The caliphate's leader, or caliph, is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He is to be known as "Caliph Ibrahim," the spokesman said.
"The legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and arrival of its troops to their areas."
The new state claims territories in eastern Iraq's Diyala province and stretches to Aleppo in Syria, according to the BBC. Muslims in that area are to "pledge allegiance" to the Islamic State and "reject democracy and other garbage from the West," the group said in the Mp3 audio recording.
Ever since the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, caliphates have been established to continue leadership in the religion, led by the leader and successor to Muhammad known as the caliph.
Caliphates have ruled for hundreds of years in North Africa and the Middle East until the last one was abolished in 1924 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, according to the BBC.
Experts say the declaring of a caliphate is a monumental step for Sunni militants, who have long fought for the moment where they would redeem themselves and bring order to the Middle East, the BBC reported.
