Spotlight on Global Jihad (February 16-22, 2023)

Main events of the past week

• This week saw a moderate increase in ISIS activity around the world. The center of activity was in Syria.
• Syria: ISIS operatives continued to attack civilians in the desert region southeast of Al-Sukhnah. Close to 100 people were killed in recent attacks. In the Deir ez-Zor–Al-Mayadeen region, US and SDF forces killed two senior ISIS members and wounded another operative.
• Iraq: Twelve ISIS operatives were killed in a counterterrorism operation by the Iraqi Air Force on the outskirts of Baghdad.
• Afghanistan: Taliban Special Forces operated against an ISIS hideout in Kabul. Three ISIS operatives, who were involved in carrying out numerous attacks, were killed and another operative was arrested. The Chief of the Joint Staff of the CSTO^[1] estimated that about 6,500 ISIS operatives operate in Afghanistan, with about 4,000 of them belonging to ISIS’s Khorasan Province and most of them deployed near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.
• Africa:
  • Somalia: The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab continues to suffer losses from the government of Somalia and the forces supporting it, primarily the United States.
  • Nigeria: ISIS operatives released a doctor who was kidnapped in 2022 in the Gubio region, in northeastern Nigeria.
  • Kenya: Four policemen were killed in the explosion of an IED against a vehicle in which they were traveling in eastern Kenya. Al-Shabaab is behind the attack.
  • Burkina Faso: About 50 Burkina Faso soldiers were killed in an attack against their convoy in the northeast of the country. The attack was apparently carried out by ISIS or Al-Qaeda operatives, who are active in the area.
• UN experts estimate that the successor of Ayman al-Zawahiri in the leadership of Al-Qaeda is Saif al-Adel, who was responsible for the security of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and who guided some of the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks.
• The battle for hearts and minds: The editorial of ISIS’s Al-Naba weekly attacks critics of the organization and calls on Muslims to “wise up” and choose ISIS’s path, especially in light of the fact that Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other critics of the organization are in a desperate situation and are not achieving anything.

The Syrian arena^[2]

The desert region

• On February 19, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked fighters of the Homeland Defense Forces, working alongside the Syrian army, while they were engaged in gathering truffle mushrooms in the Tuwinan area, about 60 km north of Palmyra. Six fighters, residents of the Al-Safira area, about 15 km southeast of Aleppo, were killed (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 19, 2023).
• On February 17, 2023, ISIS operatives riding on motorcycles attacked civilians who were engaged in gathering mushrooms in the Al-Doubayat area, about 20 km southeast of Al-Sukhnah. A total of 68 people were killed, 61 civilians, residents of Al-Sukhnah, six fighters, and an officer in the forces supporting the Syrian army.
• This is not the first time that ISIS operatives have attacked civilians engaged in picking mushrooms. On February 11, 2023, 75 men and women were kidnapped east of Palmyra. Twelve of them, including a woman and a Syrian soldier, who apparently secured them, were killed. On February 17, 2023, ISIS released 25 of the abductees, after they were interrogated by its men and it was found that they had no connection to the Syrian regime. The fate of the remaining 38 abductees is unknown (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 17, 2023).
• As is well known, civilians collect truffle mushrooms in the Syrian Desert and sell them to traders connected to the Syrian army (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 17 and 19, 2023). On February 11-19, 2023, the number of deaths among civilians and fighters of the forces supporting the Syrian army in the Syrian Desert area reached at least 86, which indicates the expansion of ISIS activity in the region in recent times.

Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region

• On February 17, 2023, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire in the village of Abu Hammam. He was wounded (Telegram, February 19, 2023).

Counterterrorism

Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region

• A US force dropped from a helicopter in eastern Syria on February 18, 2023, arrested together with an SDF force a senior operative of ISIS’s Syria Province. The detainee, codenamed Battar, was planning attacks against detention camps where families of ISIS operatives are held and which are secured by SDF forces. In addition, he was involved in making explosive devices (CENTCOM, February 19, 2023)
• On the night of February 16, 2022, a joint force of the US Army and SDF forces operated in the village of Al-Hajjana, about 35 km east of Deir ez-Zor, against Hamza al-Homsi (i.e., from the city of Homs), a senior ISIS operative. During the operation, an IED was activated against the force. Al-Homsi and another person, in whose house he was staying, were killed. Four American soldiers and a dog that was part of the force were wounded. It was noted that Al-Homsi oversaw the activity of ISIS squads in eastern Syria (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Reuters and CENTCOM, February 17, 2023).

The Iraqi arena

Counterterrorism

Baghdad Province

• As part of securing the pilgrims to the tomb compound of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, the Seventh Imam of the Twelver Shia, in Al-Kadhimiya, in north Baghdad, Iraqi army forces carried out several operations against ISIS targets:
  • Baghdad Province: On February 15, 2023, Iraqi Air Force aircraft and ground forces operated against ISIS to the north, west, and southwest of Baghdad. Twelve ISIS operatives were killed (Iraqi News Agency, February 15, 2023).
  • Salah al-Din Province: On February 16, 2023, an Iraqi army force killed three ISIS operatives in Al-Tarmiyah, about 30 km north of Baghdad. One of the ISIS operatives detonated an explosive belt, killing two Iraqi officers and two soldiers (Al-Arabiya, February 16, 2023). ISIS claimed responsibility for the incident. According to the organization, heavy exchanges of fire took place for several hours between its operatives and large forces of the Iraqi army in the Al-Tabi area, in the Al-Tarmiyah region. According to ISIS, four Iraqi fighters were killed and six were wounded; one of the dead was an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, who served as the commander of a Fawj (a force whose size is between a battalion and a brigade (Amaq, Telegram, February 18, 2023).

Summary of ISIS’s activity in the various provinces

•  An infographic published by ISIS, summing up its activity around the globe on February 9-15, 2023, indicates that the organization carried out 20 attacks in its various provinces around the globe (compared to 11 in the previous week). The largest number of attacks was carried out by ISIS’s Central Africa Province (6). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: Iraq (4); West Africa (3); Somalia (2); Syria (1); Mozambique (1); Pakistan (1); Khorasan (Afghanistan) (1); and the Sahel (1). A total of 91 people were killed and wounded in the attacks, compared to 34 in the previous week. The largest number of casualties was in the Sahel Province (48). The other casualties were in the following provinces: Central Africa (14); Somalia (9); Mozambique (7); West Africa (5); Iraq (4); Syria (2); Pakistan (1); Khorasan (Afghanistan) (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, February 16, 2023).

ISIS attacks by week (according to ISIS data)

Africa

Nigeria

ISIS activity

• On the evening of February 20, 2023, mortar shells were fired at a Nigerian army base on the outskirts of the town of Buni Yadi, about 50 km south of Damaturu, in the northeast of the country. No damage was done. A Nigerian army force pursued ISIS operatives riding on motorcycles, who fled southeast of Damaturu. Several operatives were killed in the exchange of fire between the parties (Zagazola, February 20, 2023).
• On February 18, 2023, operatives of ISIS’s West Africa Province released Dr. Geidam Bulama, a physician who was kidnapped on March 18, 2022, by ISIS operatives in the Gubio area, about 80 km from northwest of Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria, and was held by the organization’s operatives for 11 months (Leadership, February 18, 2023). Dr. Bulama was taken, along with other abductees, to an area near Lake Chad, where he was forced to treat wounded ISIS operatives as well as their family members for several months.

• On February 15, 2023, there were two attacks against the Nigerian army:
  • Five mortar shells were fired at a Nigerian army camp in the town of Buni Gari, in the Gujba region, in Yobe State. According to ISIS, definite hits were observed (Telegram, February 17, 2023).
  • An attack was carried out against a Nigerian army compound near the town of Monguno, about 100 km northeast of Maiduguri. The soldiers fled. ISIS operatives seized medium weapons and set the compound on fire (Telegram, February 16, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On February 13, 2023, a Nigerian army force supported by local fighters ambushed Boko Haram operatives in Banki, about 120 km southeast of Maiduguri, near the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Eight Boko Haram operatives were killed. Six assault rifles, two motorcycles, and additional equipment belonging to Boko Haram were found at the scene (Zagazola, February 14, 2023).

ISIS’s West Africa Province calls for the enforcement of sharia and the abandonment of democracy and parliamentarism

• On February 20, 2023, ISIS’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) released a video entitled “Polytheism is a huge oppression.” In the video, which is about 15 minutes long, in an African language, apparently Swahili, with Arabic subtitles, a masked operative presents the organization’s doctrine regarding the desired government. The speaker calls on Muslims in Africa to abandon democracy and the parliamentary system, enforce sharia, Islamic law, and spread the organization’s messages against polytheism. He calls the African leaders “tyrants” and “collaborators with the Christian West and the Jews.” The video documents the distribution of propaganda materials on behalf of the organization among local residents, apparently in northeastern Nigeria, and attacks carried out by the organization’s operatives   against Nigerian security forces (Telegram, February 20, 2023).

   
The title slide, “Polytheism is a huge evil,” and the speaker in the video
(Telegram, February 20, 2023)

   
ISIS operative preaches to residents and another operative distributes propaganda materials (Telegram, February 20, 2023)

Kenya

• On February 15, 2023, an IED was activated against a vehicle in which Kenyan Border Guard policemen were traveling on the highway between Dadaab (about 70 km west of the Kenya-Somalia border) and Garissa, in eastern Kenya. Four policemen were killed (Garowe Online, February 15, 2023). Al-Shabaab is apparently behind the attack.

Somalia

Counterterrorism

• On February 16, 2023, the Somali government announced that its soldiers, supported by international partners (apparently referring to the US Army Africa Command) and tribal militias, operated against Al-Shabaab in various areas in southern and central Somalia. A total of 350 Al-Shabaab operatives were reportedly killed and dozens wounded (VOA, February 16, 2023).
• At the request of the Somali government, on February 15, 2023, the US Army Africa Command carried out an airstrike against Al-Shabaab operatives near Bacaadweyne, about 460 km northeast of Mogadishu. Five Al-Shabaab operatives were killed (AFRICOM, February 16, 2023).

Burkina Faso

• On February 17, 2023, an attack was carried out against a convoy of Burkina Faso military forces in the Oudalan district, in the northeast of the country, about 100 km southwest of the Burkina Faso-Mali-Niger border triangle. At least 51 soldiers were killed (Africa News, February 21, 2023). It seems that ISIS or Al-Qaeda operatives, who are active in the area, are behind the attack.

Tunisia

• On February 15, 2023, Tunisia’s Ministry of the Interior announced that Tunisian security forces arrested members of an ISIS terrorist squad, thereby thwarting their plans to carry out assassinations of members of the security forces in the province of Bizerte, in the north of the country. It was noted that armed groups entrench themselves in the mountains in western Tunisia, along the border with Algeria (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, February 15, 2023).

Asia

Afghanistan

Counterterrorism

• On February 15, 2023, Taliban Special Forces operated against an ISIS hideout in Kabul. During the operation, the building where ISIS operatives were staying was targeted by gunfire, explosive charges were thrown inside, and it collapsed. Three ISIS operatives, who were involved in carrying out numerous attacks, were killed, and another operative was arrested. Weapons as well as technical and electronic equipment were found at the scene (Hindustan Times, February 15, 2023).

Estimates on ISIS presence in Afghanistan

• Anatoly Sidorov, Chief of the Joint Staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), reported that there are about 6,500 active ISIS operatives in Afghanistan. According to estimates, about 4,000 of them belong to ISIS’s Khorasan Province and most of them are deployed near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border in the provinces of northeastern Afghanistan: Badakhshan, Takhar, and Kunduz. Sidorov estimated that ISIS poses a danger to the security of Central and South Asia (Khaama Press, February 15, 2023).

Pakistan

• On February 20, 2023, ISIS operatives fired at a checkpoint of the Pakistani security forces in the Babri region, about 45 km east of the Pakistan–Afghanistan border. Two fighters were killed (Telegram, February 21, 2023).

Kyrgyzstan

• Commander of US Central Command General Michael Kurilla made a statement on February 16, 2023, regarding the repatriation of 59 wives of ISIS operatives and their children on February 15, 2023, from camps in northeastern Syria to Kyrgyzstan, their country of origin. He pointed out that the only long-term solution to this crisis is the successful return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of those staying in displaced persons camps in northeastern Syria in their countries of origin (CENTCOM, February 16, 2023).

Yemen

• On February 19, 2023, Abdel Qader al-Mortada, the chairman of the Houthi movement’s prisoner exchange committee, announced that the movement had released two Al-Qaeda operatives who had been captured in the Al-Bayda district (about 140 km southeast of Sana’a), in exchange for three Houthi fighters. It was a rare statement by the Houthis that they were carrying out a prisoner exchange with Al-Qaeda. A day earlier, on February 18, 2023, Al-Qaeda announced that it had released two Houthi fighters in exchange for two Al-Qaeda operatives (Arab News, February 20, 2023).

Al-Qaeda

Saif al-Adel is apparently Al-Qaeda’s new leader

• On February 13, 2023, the UN Security Council was given a report by experts, who estimate that the successor of Ayman al-Zawahiri (who was killed on July 31, 2022, in a US drone attack in Kabul) in the Al-Qaeda leadership is Saif al-Adel. He was in charge of the security of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and guided some of the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks. The experts noted in the report that Al-Qaeda did not officially announce the appointment of Saif al-Adel as its leader. In discussions held in November-December 2022, many countries noted that in their opinion, Al-Adel functions as Al-Qaeda’s de facto leader. According to one of the reports, Al-Adel stays in Iran (Los Angeles Times, February 14, 2023). US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on February 15, 2023, that the US assessment is consistent with that of the UN and that the fact that Iran provides a safe haven to an Al-Qaeda operative is proof of Iran’s extensive support for terrorism (Iran International, February 15, 2023). Saif al-Adel, 62, was an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Egyptian Army Special Forces, and the United States has placed a reward for information about him of up to $10 million (Reuters; France 24, February 16, 2023). Previous information revealed that Saif al-Adel had already visited Tehran back in 2015 together with two other senior Al-Qaeda officials (The Long War Journal, September 2, 2022).^[3]

Veteran Al-Qaeda leader back in eastern Afghanistan

• On February 14, 2023, a report by experts on behalf of the United Nations was published, in which it was claimed that Abu Ikhlas al-Masri, a veteran Al-Qaeda leader, has resumed operations in eastern Afghanistan. Al-Masri was arrested and imprisoned about a decade ago but was released when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Before his arrest, Al-Masri commanded Al-Qaeda operatives in the Kunar Province, northeast of Jalalabad, and ran an extensive network of operatives due to his close links with local tribes. From early 2000 until around 2005, he served as Al-Qaeda’s operations chief in Kunar Province (FDD, February 14, 2023).

The battle for hearts and minds

• On February 16, 2023, ISIS’s Al-Naba weekly published an editorial entitled “[This is] after they saw the verses [i.e., the verses of the Quran]”, attacking the organization’s critics and calling on Muslims to choose ISIS’s path. The author points out that Islamic figures and various Islamic organizations are making false claims against ISIS, but Allah directed the things so that the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other critics of the organization are now in a desperate situation and are not achieving anything. In conclusion, the writer calls on Muslims to “wise up” and choose ISIS’s path (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram,  February 16, 2023).

^[1] The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is a military alliance of six countries in Eurasia: Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The headquarters of the alliance, established in 1992, is located in Moscow (Wikipedia). ↑
^[2] According to ISIS claims of responsibility and international media. ↑
^[3] For further details, see the ITIC’s Information Bulletin from September 8, 2022, “Spotlight on Global Jihad (September 1-7, 2022)” ↑

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