In response to rapid territorial gains made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS, IS, or Daesh, calling itself the Islamic State) militants during the first half of 2014, and the group's internationally condemned brutality, reported human rights abuses and the fear of further spillovers of the Syrian Civil War, many states began to intervene against ISIL in Syria and Iraq. Later, there were also minor interventions by some states against ISIL-affiliated groups in Nigeria and Libya.