On 7 June, the Institute for the Study of War released a statement predicting that simultaneous terror attacks would take place at around 29 June, marking the one-year anniversary of the terrorist group ISIL declaring itself to be a state. The statement noted that the ISIL's precursor organization Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had a history of elevating violence during Ramadan. The paper said that ISIL was "likely preparing a surge of operations" during Ramadan to stoke regional sectarian and religious war, and to create military momentum. The paper argued that AQI had a history of promoting sectarian violence though the 2006 al-Askari mosque bombing, and that ISIL would use the movement of religious pilgrims during Ramadan to infiltrate soldiers into Shi'a areas, and also "likely target Shi’a populations outside of Iraq and Syria, particularly in Yemen and Saudi Arabia and possibly further abroad."