ISIS

Spotlight on Global Jihad (August 9-16, 2023)

This week, there was an increase in the scope of ISIS’s activity around the world. Syria: ISIS operatives ambushed Syrian army buses in the desert area south of Al-Mayadeen. A total of 33 Syrian soldiers were killed. Africa: Mozambique: ISIS operatives attacked a Mozambican army compound in northeastern Mozambique. Seven soldiers were killed and ten wounded. Mali: The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel, announced that its operatives had attacked Malian army soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries on the periphery of the city of Timbuktu. Dozens of soldiers from the Malian army and the Wagner Group were killed and wounded. Somalia: The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab carried out several attacks against the Somali security forces and Somali civilians, and at the same time suffered dozens of fatalities. Nigeria: Boko Haram operatives attacked civilians and military forces in the northeast. Iran: A gunman opened fire at people at the Shiite shrine of Shah-e Cheragh in the city of Shiraz. One man was killed and eight others were wounded. The perpetrator was captured. The attack was apparently carried out by ISIS. It should be noted that on October 26, 2022, an ISIS operative shot at this shrine, killing 12 people and wounding more than 20. ISIS is believed to be behind the attack. UN terrorism experts claim that ISIS still has thousands of operatives in Syria and Iraq and that the organization poses a real threat in Afghanistan.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (August 3-9, 2023)

This week, there was a decline in the scope of ISIS activity around the world. The organization’s activity was concentrated in Syria and Africa. ISIS announced the death of its leader (caliph) and the appointment of a new leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurashi. Operatives of several provinces have already pledged allegiance to the new leader. In Syria: At least ten fighters of the Syrian army and the forces supporting it were wounded in an attack carried out by ISIS east of Al-Raqqah. In another incident, two officers and four soldiers were killed in attacks carried out by operatives of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated HTS against Syrian army positions in the western area of the rebel enclave in Idlib. A Malian army convoy was attacked in the border area between Mali and Niger. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, noting that 13 soldiers were killed and three others were abducted.
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ISIS has declared the death of its leader and the appointment of a new leader

On August 3, 2023, ISIS's Al-Furqan Media Foundation released an audiotape with a statement by ISIS's spokesman. In the tape, the spokesman announces the death of the organization's leader, and the appointment of his replacement. ISIS’s spokesman blames the leader's death on the Al-Qaeda-affiliated HTS, which is considered the dominant organization in the rebel enclave in Idlib. As ISIS has done in the past, this time too, the information about the leader’s death has not been officially published by ISIS. This is apparently because the organization waited for a new leader to be chosen by the Shura Council and for establishing support and recognition for his appointment by the operatives in the various provinces.This is the fourth leader of ISIS killed since the establishment of the organization. The last three leaders were killed after a relatively short term of office and it seems that their term of office is getting shorter after the first leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, served for six and a half years while the last leader served only six months
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 27 – August 2, 2023)

This week, ISIS operatives carried out three noteworthy attacks: two attacks were carried out at the Al-Sayyida Zaynab Shrine, south of Damascus, a Shiite pilgrimage site. Another attack was carried out in Pakistan during a political gathering ahead of the elections. In Iraq Security forces continued their counterterrorism activities against ISIS’s infrastructure in the various provinces. One of ISIS’s senior commanders, described as “dangerous,” was detained. In Nigeria ISIS’s activity against the military forces continued, although this week it was relatively moderate. The Somali army reported that it had acted, in collaboration with the US army, against the Al-Shabaab infrastructure. According to Al-Shabaab, there was no military activity against it, and it was rather Al-Shabaab that acted against the Somali military forces. An ISIS suicide bomber carried out an attack during a political conference in Bajaur Province, east of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. At least 54 people were killed and about 200 were wounded.
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Spotlight on Iran (July 20-31, 2023)

Iran condemned the IDF operation in Nablus, in which three armed Palestinians were killed. Additionally, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the Temple Mount. Reuters reported on a recent meeting between senior officials from the IRGC’s Qods Force and Hamas, during which they discussed the internal crisis in Israel. Newsweek published an investigative report on the Imam Hossein Division, the pro-Iranian militia considered the strongest in Syria and linked to the IRGC’s Qods Force. Iran condemned the attack carried out by ISIS on July 27, 2023, in the Shiite quarter on the outskirts of Damascus, in which six people were killed. There were no casualties among Iranian pilgrims.
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Spotlight on Global Jihad (July 20-26, 2023)

This week, there was a moderate increase in the scope of ISIS’s activity in Syria. Noteworthy was the counterterrorism activity of the security forces against ISIS in Syria and Iraq and against Boko Haram and Al-Shabaab in Africa.Five Syrian army soldiers and/or operatives supporting the army were killed and ten were wounded in the explosion of an ISIS IED in the eastern Homs Province. Two ISIS operatives were killed and another was wounded in counterterrorism activity south of Al-Hasakah. In Somali army activity against Al-Shabaab northwest of Mogadishu, around 40 operatives were killed, including foreign commanders.
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