Spotlight on Global Jihad (April 4-19, 2023)

Main events of the past week

• During the past few days, ISIS has carried out moderate activity around the world.
• Syria: In the region of Deir ez-Zor-al-Mayadeen, several attacks were carried out against the Kurdish SDF forces. A Syrian officer was killed in a shooting attack, possibly carried out by ISIS, at a checkpoint north of Daraa.
• Africa:
  • Somalia: As part of the second phase of the operation to eradicate the presence of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab, the Somali Army announced that it had managed to liberate additional villages controlled by the organization in the south of the country.
  • Mali: An Al-Qaeda-affiliated source announced that the organization was responsible for the attack in which the chief of staff of the army of Mali’s transitional government was killed.
• Russia: An ISIS supporter who planned to carry out a mass-casualty attack in southwestern Russia was detained by the Russian security forces.
• India: Al-Qaeda threatens to carry out attacks against the regime in the country.

The Syrian Arena^[1]

ISIS’s activity

Deir ez-Zor-al-Mayadeen region

• ISIS operatives carried out several attacks against the Kurdish SDF forces:
  • On April 22, 2023, armed men fired at a post in the town of Hammar al-Ali, about 25 km northwest of Deir ez-Zor. No casualties or property damage were reported (Deir ez-Zor 24, April 22, 2023).
  • On April 19, 2023, shots were fired at two SDF fighters near the town of Abu Khashab, about 65 km north of Deir ez-Zor. Both fighters were killed (Telegram, April 19, 2023). The next day, it was reported that the bodies of the two fighters were found (Deir ez-Zor 24, April 20, 2023).
  • On April 18, 2023, shots were fired at a checkpoint in the village of Al-Hariji, in the Al-Suwar area, about 50 km northeast of Deir ez-Zor. Several fighters were wounded (Telegram, April 19, 2023).

Southern Syria

• On April 22, 2023, two militants, possibly ISIS operatives, fired at a Syrian army checkpoint in Tal al-Harrah, about 50 km northwest of Daraa (10 km of the Syria-Israel border). An officer (his rank was not specified) was killed (North Press Agency, April 22, 2023; TRACTerrorism, April 22, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On April 19, 2023, an SDF force, with air support from the US-led Global Coalition, operated against ISIS in the town of Jadid Bakara, about 25 km north of Al-Mayadeen. An ISIS operative who had transferred weapons, ammunition, IEDs, and money to ISIS squads in the Deir ez-Zor region and northeastern Syria was killed (SDF Press, April 19, 2023).

Iraq

ISIS attacks by province^[2]

Al-Anbar Province

• On April 20, 2023, shots were fired at an Iraqi army vehicle on the international highway (Baghdad-Amman), 200 km west of Baghdad. The vehicle was damaged. No casualties were reported (Telegram, April 21, 2023).

Counterterrorism

Kirkuk Province

• On April 2, 2023, Iraqi security forces in the Kirkuk province detained two ISIS operatives. One of them, codenamed Abu Dujana, was a senior ISIS operative. In the coming days, the two planned to carry out terrorist attacks against civilians and members of the security forces in the form of detonating IEDs in crowded markets in various areas in the Kirkuk Province. It was noted that the senior operative who was detained had previously detonated an IED against an Iraqi police patrol and threw a hand grenade at a police vehicle, killing a policeman. He also opened a guesthouse for ISIS squad
  

  members in the Laylan area, about 10 km southeast of Kirkuk (Iraqi News Agency, April 22, 2023).

• According to an infographic published by ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba, summing up ISIS’s activity in the period between April 13 and 19, 2023, ISIS operatives carried out 27 attacks in the various provinces during this period (compared to 22 in the previous week). The West Africa Province carried out the highest number of attacks (11). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: Syria (5); Iraq (5); Mozambique (3); Central Africa (1); Pakistan (1); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (1). A total of 81 people were killed and wounded in the attacks, compared to 76 people in the week before. The largest number of casualties was in the West Africa Province (47). The rest of the dead and wounded: Syria (13); Iraq (7); Mozambique (7); Central Africa (3); Pakistan (3); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, April 20, 2023)

Africa

Summary of the activity of ISIS’s West Africa Province during Ramadan

• ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba published an infographic summing up the activity of the West Africa Province from March 23 to April 19, 2023 (i.e., during the month of Ramadan, except for its last day). According to the infographic, the province operatives carried out 39 attacks during this period in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Niger, killing or wounding 107 people, eight of them Christian civilians. The following types of attacks were carried out: assault and shooting (16); detonation of IEDs (16); assassinations (1); and other methods (6). In its activity, ISIS destroyed or put out of commission 16 vehicles, 12 off-road vehicles, two armored vehicles, and two other vehicles (Al-Naba, Telegram, April 20, 2023).

Nigeria

ISIS’s activity

• In recent days, ISIS has continued its activity against Nigerian Army targets. The following are the main attacks:
• On April 20, 2023, shots were fired at a checkpoint in the town of Ngala, about 4 km southwest of the Nigeria-Cameroon border. One soldier was killed (Telegram, April 21, 2023).
• On April 18, 2023, grenades were fired from a grenade launcher at a base in the town of Buni Gari, Yobe State, in the northeast of the country. No casualties or material damage were reported (Telegram, April 19, 2023).

Somalia

Counterterrorism

• The Somali Army thwarted an attack by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab on the periphery of Mogadishu. At least 18 Al-Shabaab operatives were killed. According to local sources, Al-Shabaab operatives took over a military base but were repelled by Somali security forces. At least three civilians were killed during the counterterrorism operations (ABC News, April 22, 2023).
• As part of the second phase of the operation to eradicate Al-Shabaab’s presence in the country, the Somali Army announced that the forces had managed to liberate several additional villages that were under the organization’s control in the Lower Shabelle area in the south of the country. At least 18 Al-Shabaab operatives were killed (garoweonline.com, April 19, 2023).

Mali

Al-Qaeda activity

• An Al-Qaeda-affiliated source announced on April 21, 2023, that it was responsible for carrying out the ambush attack on April 18, 2023, near the Mali-Mauritania border, in which four people were killed, including Oumar Traore, chief of staff of the army of Mali’s transitional government (Telegram, April 21, 2023).

Sudan

• Following the precarious security situation in the country, due to the struggle for power in the country which began in early April 2023, ISIS-affiliated Telegram accounts published posts calling on the country’s Muslim residents to seize the opportunity and wage jihad against the “infidels.” Some of the posts claimed that the two groups fighting for power in the country were linked to Israel (MEMRI, April 21, 2023).

Mauritius

ISIS’s activity

• ISIS-affiliated elements in Indonesia released a video showing around 100 ISIS operatives celebrating Eid al-Fitr (the holiday ending the Ramadan fast) on the island of Mauritius (TRACTerrorism, April 21, a023). If the video is authentic and up to date, this is exceptional evidence of the presence of ISIS operatives on the island.

Asia

Turkey

• On April 19, 2023, counterterrorism teams operating under the Istanbul Security Directorate detained six foreign nationals suspected of having ties to ISIS and Al-Qaeda (Anatolia, April 19, 2023).

India

• Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) issued an announcement on April 22, 2023, threatening the Indian regime with revenge attacks following the killing of Atiq Ahmed, a Muslim criminal, and his brother Ashraf on April 15, 2023 (organiser.org, April 22, 2023).

Europe

Russia

• On April 20, 2023, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained an ISIS-supporting Russian citizen in the town of Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol Krai, southwestern Russia. He was caught while planning to carry out an attack at a public facility in the city, on the orders of foreign terrorist elements. During the detention, components he purchased to manufacture IEDs were also found, as well as means he used to contact ISIS operatives in the Middle East (TASS, April 20, 2023).

^[1} According to ISIS’s claims of responsibility and the global media. ↑
^[2] According to ISIS’s claims of responsibility and the global media. ↑a

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