ISIS is not the same kind of organization as Al Qaeda. ISIS tends to be more like a guerilla army, not sleeper cells. Is there any effort they evolved as an irganization?
ISIS actually grew out of al-Zarqawi’s followers. Same Zarqawi who was killed during a U.S. airstrike in 2006. They were active in Iraq as far back as 2004-5, including al-baghdadi before his capture & imprisonment by the U.S. - you’re right they’ve been operating more like an army than a terrorist grp. Even back in 2004 & after they were mostly the extreme of the extremist salafis who beheaded quite a few foreigners & muslims. Not to say AQ hasn’t done the same. But AQ nowadays is more aligned with Jabhat al-Nusra. Tho their ‘internal’ disagreements about tactics & behavior don’t mean they can’t or won’t unite to accomplish a broader goal if they wanted to.