Islamic State has killed at least 800 people abroad: AP

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Islamic State group has dramatically expanded its theatre of operations from its hub in Syria and Iraq, executing or inspiring a series of attacks across three continents that claimed more than 800 lives this year, the Associated Press reports.

The mayhem created by those attacks — including the downing of a Russian airliner and a killing spree in the heart of Paris — attracts the kind of attention that the extremist group thrives on.

On Wednesday, the Islamic State group announced it has killed Norwegian and Chinese captives, reflecting its intention to continue kidnapping and killing hostages inside its "caliphate" in Sunni areas of Syria and Iraq, while at the same time pursuing mass murder abroad.

The Associated Press presents a timeline of IS attacks outside Syria and Iraq this year:

November 13: At least 132 people are killed in Paris with over 350 wounded, at a concert hall, or a trendy restaurants and near a national stadium. IS claimed the attack.

November 12: Twin powerful suicide bombings tear through a crowded Shiite neighborhood of Beirut, killing 43 people and wounding more than 200 others. IS claimed the attack.

October 31: A bomb downs a Russian airliner 23 minutes after it takes off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh bound for the Russian city of St. Petersburg. IS claimed the attack.

October 10: Two suicide bombings kill at least 100 people at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey. The attack was not claimed by IS but the Turkish prosecutor investigating the attack said it was carried out by a local IS cell.

October 6: Suicide car bombings targeting exiled Yemeni officials and the Saudi and Emirati troops backing their efforts to retake the country kill at least 15 people in the port city of Aden. A new IS affiliate claimed responsibility.

August 6: A suicide bomber attacks a mosque inside a police compound in western Saudi Arabia, killing 15 people. IS claimed the attack.

June 26: Gunman kills 38 tourists, mostly Britons, in the coastal resort of Sousse, Tunisia, while a bomb rips through one of Kuwait's oldest Shiite mosques during Friday prayers, killing 27 people. IS claimed the attack.

May 29: A suicide bomber disguised as a woman blows himself up in the parking lot of a Shiite mosque in the Saudi port city of Dammam, killing four people. IS claimed the attack.

May 22: A suicide bomber strikes a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia as worshippers commemorate the birth of a revered saint, killing 21 people and wounding dozens more. IS claimed the attack.

April 18: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blames the Islamic State group for a suicide bombing in the country that kills at least 35 people and wounds 125.

March 20: An emerging IS affiliate in Yemen claims a series of suicide bombings that kill 137 people and wound 345.

March 18: Extremist gunmen open fire on foreign tourists at Tunisia's National Bardo Museum, killing 22 people in the country's worst attack on civilians in 13 years. The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the Bardo attack.