The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria earned its brutal reputation as it spread violence and terror across those two war-torn countries.
But in an apparent expansion of its reach, it has, in just the past week, claimed responsibility for a roll call of attacks in other countries: the deadly bombing of a mosque in Kuwait last Friday, the horrific beachfront killings in Tunisia the same day and now coordinated military attacks in Egypt.
ISIS apparently launched simultaneous attacks Wednesday on Egyptian military checkpoints, reportedly killing 17 Egyptian soldiers and injuring 30 others.
The wave of violence comes after a spokesman for the Sunni extremist group urged followers to step up attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. And it shows how ISIS' tentacles are reaching out from Yemen on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula across the Gulf states to Tunisia in North Africa.
Egypt: Deadly attacks in Sinai
ISIS claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attacks in the restive Sinai province in statements posted on Twitter.
The confrontations between ISIS militants and Egyptian troops left at least 100 jihadis dead, the Egyptian military reported on its official Facebook page Wednesday.
Egyptian military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Samir told CNN Thursday that the situation in the Sinai was now "100% under control." He also said that the Muslim Brotherhood -- banned as a terrorist organization in Egypt -- was "behind all of this."
Map: Sinai Peninsula
Security officials and observers in Egypt have described the apparently coordinated attacks in the northern Sinai as unprecedented. The Egyptian military said at least 300 militants launched the offensive, using car bombs and different kinds of weapons.
The ISIS-affiliated State of Sinai group claimed it attacked more than 15 checkpoints and had used at least three suicide bombers. The assault was focused on a town close to the Gaza border, with residents there caught in the crossfire.
The coordinated attack has raised concerns of a new chapter in an insurgency that the Egyptian military has been struggling to contain in the Sinai for the past couple of years.
The Sinai borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north and Israel to the east. It is the only part of Egypt that lies in Asia rather than Africa.
Tunisia: Beachfront massacre
Terrorist attack in Tunisia 14 photos
ISIS has said it's behind the bloody attack on foreign tourists in the Tunisian coastal town of Sousse in which 38 people died.
Thirty of the people killed in the massacre at a beachfront hotel last week are UK citizens, authorities said Thursday, marking the worst terror attack against Britons in a decade.
The gunman responsible trained with the people who carried out an attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March, Tunisian authorities said. ISIS has also claimed responsibility for that attack.
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