Iraq and Amnesty International state they've committed serious human rights abuses including

some amounting to war crimes but who exactly is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant?

Well it's an insurgent Jihadist group active in Iraq and Syria and you may know them better

as ISIL or ISIS - the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The group was formed in 2013

when the Iraqi faction (formerly known as al-Qa'ida in Iraq) merged with Jabhat al-Nusra

-- essentially al-Qa'ida presence in Syria. The group has become the main jihadi fighting

force in Syria -- as well as keeping a stronghold in Iraq.

They're heavily armed with a strong force of foreign jihadists, and have been fighting

against the moderate opposition but how did they get so powerful, so fast?

Well 2013 put ISIS on the map in Northern Syria where it established Sharia law in various

towns and shocked the world with claims of detention camps, torture and public executions.

al-Qa'ida in Iraq's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audio statement, declaring the

birth of ISIS, only it wasn't quite that simple. The Jabhat al --Nusra leader Abu Muhammad

al-Jawlani denied this, saying neither he nor any of his men knew about such a move.

Then in the summer Al Jazeera reported that it had a letter written by al-Qa'ida leader

and Bin Laden's successor Ayman Al-Zawahiri, stating he was not in favour of the merger.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi then released an audio message rejecting Zawahiri's ruling stating

the merger was going ahead anyway.

In July ISIS claimed responsibility for the mass breakout of its imprisoned members held

at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison. It was reported that over 500 prisoners escaped,

including senior commanders of the group.

By September, some internet sites stated that ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack

in Turkey back in May. Two car bombs exploded in the town of Reyhanlı, Hatay Province,

killing at least 51 people and injuring 140. The attack was the deadliest single act of

terrorism to occur on Turkish soil.

The controversy over ISIS's presence in Syria continued as Ayman Al-Zawahiri apparently

ordered the disbanding of ISIS in an audio message aired on al-Jazeera.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated: "ISIS is the strongest group in Northern

Syria −100% - and anyone who tells you anything else is lying."

In December Amnesty International released a damning 18 page briefing report cataloguing

what it claims are human rights abuses carried out by ISIS. It claimed; torture, flogging

and summary killings are rife in secret prisons run by ISIS. Those abducted and detained include

children as young as eight who are held together with adults in the same "cruel and inhumane"

conditions. So what's happening with ISIS now and what's its future? Well in Iraq they

appear strong. Last week during the clashes in Anbar ISIS took control of Fallujah and

proclaimed it an independent Islamic state. The UN's envoy to Iraq has now warned of a

critical humanitarian situation in the region.

This week the Iraqi ministry of defense claimed that Iraq's air force carried out a successful

strike on ISIS sites in Ramadi. Whilst in Syria a car bomb in Darkush, Idlib was according

to activist sources an attack by ISIS on another rebel faction running a checkpoint and in

the wake of fighting between Islamist factions linked to the FSA and ISIS a demonstration

took place in Aleppo calling for an end to factional violence. So ISIS despite its fearsome

reputation and the allegations it faces is not without its enemies and of course there

are forces fighting against them. Moderates and Islamists trying to depose Assad are now

uniting to fight against ISIS in several parts of northern Syria - making true the old adage,

my enemy's enemy is my friend.

ISIS could well find that its no-holds barred approach to warfare has actually succeeded

in uniting its enemies against it.

On Wednesday Islamist rebels captured the headquarters of ISIS in Aleppo and reported

the discovery of apparently dozens of executed prisoners in a children's hospital used by

the group. And there's also the question of the ability of ISIS to sustain its campaigns

with defence experts asking if they're overstretched. In Anbar its reported the group has had to

reinforce fighters from Syria and that for the first time since they made their mark

- the group has been attacked by the previously weakened rebels, fighting with renewed vigour.

As Iraq gears up for its elections on April 30th the presence of ISIS is bound to be felt

but long term the future of ISIS could be as unpredictable as the nation's in which

they fight.