During the Fatimid era, the principal cities were Acre, Tiberias, Baysan, Beit Ras, Jadur, Fiq, Tyre, Lajjun, Faradiyya, Kabul and Saffuriya.
Ansar al-Islam was formed in September 2001 from a merger of Jund al-Islam (Soldiers of Islam), led by Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i, and a splinter group from the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan led by Mullah Krekar.