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ISIS

Spotlight on Global Jihad (February 10-16, 2022)

This week, the relatively low level of ISIS activity around the world continued. According to a report released by the UN on the terrorist threat, ISIS and al-Qaeda are still the biggest risk factor worldwide. Hypotheses about the successor of ISIS’s leader: It is surmised that ISIS’s new leader will be chosen from among its four Iraqi senior officials, members of the founding generation. ISIS has not yet disclosed any details on the matter. ISIS’s activity in Syria continued on a relatively low scale. Most of the attacks were directed against the Kurdish SDF forces in the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region. Since October 2021, HTS reportedly detained about 300 jihadi operatives in the rebel enclave in Idlib. In Iraq as well, ISIS’s activity was on a relatively small scale, mainly against Iraqi military forces. Several soldiers were killed and wounded in a relatively complex operation in the Rutba region in western Iraq.
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The killing of ISIS’s leader in an operation by US forces in Syria and possible implications

US President Joe Biden announced that ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed in an operation carried out by US Special Forces on the night of February 2-3, 2022, in the village of Atmeh in the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria. CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth F. McKenzie noted that ISIS's leader blew himself up at the start of the operation because he refused to surrender to the US forces and that he and members of his immediate family were killed in the explosion (US Department of Defense website, February 4, 2022).
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (February 3-9, 2021)

The main event this week was the killing of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi Al-Qurashi, in an operation carried out by US Special Forces on the night of February 2-3, 2022, in the village of Atmeh in the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria. Syria: The Syrian army's artillery fire continues in the Idlib region, with Russian air support. HTS detained three senior figures of Hurras al-Din, Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, and several operatives and commanders of the Sham al-Islam organization. Iraq: This week, the downtrend in ISIS’s activity continued. Sinai: The Sinai Tribal Union, which supports the Egyptian army, operated against ISIS. In one operation, ISIS’s commander in central Sinai was killed. The battle for hearts and minds: The lead article in ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly was devoted to an analysis of the term “tabshir," which means spreading the good news of the imminent victory of Islam. According to the author, spreading the good news embodies a large number of meanings. The weekly also published a poster encouraging jihad, entitled "The Jihad of the Believers Continues."
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ISIS’s takeover of the prison in Al-Hasakah, which it presents as an achievement, may bring about additional such actions

On January 20, 2022, about 200 ISIS operatives broke into the Al-Sina'ah-Ghuwayran Prison in the Al-Sina'ah neighborhood of Al-Hasakah, where over 4,000 ISIS operatives were held by the Kurdish forces (SDF). The attack, which is the largest action carried out by ISIS since its defeat in Al-Baghouz (March 2019), began with the detonation of two car bombs at the checkpoint at the prison gate. Then, dozens of armed operatives stormed the prison. There were heavy exchanges of fire and prisoners started to escape.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (January 27 – February 2, 2022)

Syria: After about 10 days of fighting in the Al-Sina’ah-Ghuwayran Prison in Al-Hasakah and its environs, the Kurdish SDF forces announced an end to the fighting and the elimination of all the ISIS pockets of resistance in the region. Iraq: ISIS continued its relatively low level of activity against the Iraqi army and the forces supporting it. Afghanistan: There was also a decrease in the volume of ISIS activity against the Taliban forces this week. In Africa, there was an increase in the scope of ISIS activity this week. The battle for hearts and minds: A large portion of ISIS’s weekly is devoted to turning the fighting at the Al-Sina’ah-Ghuwayran Prison in Al-Hasakah into a myth of heroism.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (January 20-26, 2021)

Syria: The main incident this week was the break-in by dozens of armed ISIS operatives at the Al-Hasakah prison, which is controlled by the Kurdish SDF forces, where several thousand ISIS operatives are incarcerated. In Iraq: ISIS continued its activity in the various provinces on a relatively small scale. The Sinai Peninsula: According to reports by local sources, 13 Egyptian army officers and soldiers were ambushed and wounded by armed men south of Sheikh Zuweid, apparently ISIS operatives. Afghanistan: ISIS continued its activity on a relatively small scale. The battle for hearts and minds: The lead article in ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly was devoted to a video released by ISIS and documenting the training adolescents in West Africa (“the Generation of Empowerment”).
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