Heat Map' Shows ISIS Branches Spreading Worldwide
As the U.S. launched more airstrikes Tuesday against ISIS targets in Libya — representing an expansion of the U.S. military operations beyond Iraq and Syria — NBC News has exclusively obtained a map showing the global expansion of the terror group.
The map is part of a classified briefing document received by the White House dated "August 2016" and prepared by the National Counterterrorism Center. It shows a stunning three-fold increase in the number of places around the globe where ISIS is operating.
U.S. State Department documents indicated that in 2014, when the U.S. military began its campaign to destroy the extremists, there were only seven nations in which the fledgling state was operating.
By 2015, according to the State Department's own numbers, there were nearly double that — 13 countries.
The current briefing map shows 18 countries where ISIS is fully operational. The map also displays a new category — "aspiring branches" — and lists six countries where they're taking root: Egypt, Indonesia, Mali, the Philippines, Somalia and Bangladesh.
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