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

Main events of the past week

• During the past two weeks, there has been a moderate increase in ISIS’s activity around the world. The organization’s centers of activity were in Syria, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should be noted that these two weeks occurred during the month of Ramadan, when the organization tends to dramatically increase its activity.
• Syria: ISIS continues its activity in the desert region against truffle collectors and security personnel guarding them. In the Deir ez-Zor-al-Mayadeen region, there were several attacks against the Kurdish SDF forces. The US Department of State designated Sami Uraydi, a senior member of the Hurras al-Din organization, Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
• Africa:
  • Nigeria: ISIS continued to carry out attacks in northeastern Nigeria and even expanded its activity to other areas.
  • The Democratic Republic of the Congo: ISIS intensified its attacks against Christian residents along the Congo-Uganda border.
  • Burkina Faso: Terrorist operatives killed 44 people in two villages in northeastern Burkina Faso, near the border with Niger.
• The battle for hearts and minds: The editorial of ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba dealt with Iranian and Hezbollah involvement in the Jerusalem issue, calling on Sunni Muslims not to cooperate with them.

The Syrian arena^[1]

ISIS activity

The desert region

• This week, ISIS operatives continued to attack civilians who were collecting truffles and fighters who secured them. Several dozen people were killed:
  • On April 16, 2023, a total of 36 people, including 17 fighters of the Syrian regime’s Homeland Defense Forces, were killed in the Duwayzin area, about 100 km east of Hama (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 16, 2023).
  • On April 9, 2023, an ISIS mine was activated against civilians collecting truffles in the Jabal al-Bishri area, about 60 km northwest of Deir ez-Zor. Six civilians were killed (SANA, April 9, 2023).
• Nine fighters of the Palestinian Quds Brigade, which supports the Assad regime,^[2] were killed in several clashes with ISIS operatives in the Palmyra region:
  • On April 16, 2023, there were exchanges of fire with ISIS in the village of Arak, in the rural area of Palmyra. An officer with the rank of lieutenant from the Palestinian Al-Quds Brigade and another fighter were killed. Three other fighters were wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 6, 2023).
  • On April 5, 2023, there were exchanges of fire with ISIS on Mount Al-Marah, east of the T3 Pumping Station, about 40 km east of Palmyra. Two Syrian fighters in the Al-Quds Brigade were killed^[3] (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 6, 2023).
  • On April 4, 2023, ISIS carried out an attack on Mount Al-Amour, about 35 km north of Palmyra. Five Al-Quds Brigade fighters were killed (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 6, 2023).

Deir ez-Zor-al-Mayadeen region

• ISIS operatives carried out several small-scale attacks, mainly consisting of shooting, against the Kurdish SDF forces:
  • On April 16, 2023, armed operatives, apparently ISIS operatives, fired at an SDF vehicle in the village of Al-Harijiyah, about 40 km east of Deir ez-Zor. No casualties were reported (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 16, 2023).
  • On April 15, 2023, an SDF vehicle was targeted by gunfire about 45 km northeast of Deir ez-Zor. Three fighters were wounded (Telegram, April 16, 2023).
  • On April 15, 2023, an SDF checkpoint was targeted by gunfire in the town of Al-Suwar, about 50 km northeast of Deir ez-Zor. One fighter was wounded (Telegram, April 15, 2023).
  • On April 10, 2023, shots were fired at two SDF fighters riding a motorcycle in the town of Al-Shahil, about 9 km north of Al-Mayadeen. Both fighters were wounded (Telegram, April 11, 2023).
  • On April 9, 2023, an SDF fighter was shot at in the town of Jadid Bakara, about 25 km north of Al-Mayadeen. He was wounded (Telegram, April 10, 2023).
• Taking over herds: On April 16, 2023, ISIS operatives riding motorcycles killed five people in the desert area of the town of Buqrus, about 7 km northwest of Al-Mayadeen. Two shepherds were kidnapped, and a herd was stolen (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 16, 2023). The herd was apparently taken to be used as meat for the organization’s operatives during the month of Ramadan, as done in previous years.

Al-Hasakah region

• On April 16, 2023, an IED was activated against an SDF vehicle near the village of Jurmaz, about 55 km south of Al-Hasakah. Four fighters were wounded (Telegram, April 17, 2023).

Southern Syria

•  On April 6, 2023, a Syrian army officer was shot and killed in the town of Qarfa, about 20 km north of Daraa (Al-Naba, Telegram, April 13, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• During the past two weeks, several counterterrorism operations were carried out against ISIS by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, with support from the SDF forces.
• In the early morning hours of April 17, 2023, forces landed from helicopters in the village of Al-Suweidah, about 9 km south of the Syrian-Turkish border, and operated against Abdel Hadi Mahmoud al-Haj Ali, a senior ISIS operative in Syria. Al-Haj Ali and two other ISIS operatives were reportedly killed in the operation. Al-Haj Ali was involved in planning attacks in the Middle East and Europe, and the operation against him was carried out after intelligence indicated his intention to abduct senior figures in Europe. CENTCOM’s spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino stressed that CENTCOM is aware of ISIS’s intentions to carry out attacks outside the Middle East (CENTCOM, April 17, 2023).
• Al-Haj Ali arrived in the village of Al-Suweidah about a month ago, after spending the past few months around the city of Jarabulus, in northern Syria, about 100 km northeast of Aleppo, very close to the Syrian-Turkish border (CENTCOM, April 17, 2023; Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 17, 2023).
• Late in the evening of April 8, 2023, US forces were landed by helicopters in the Markadah area (about 80 km south of Al-Hasakah) and detained an ISIS operative codenamed Hudhaifa al-Yamani (the Yemenite), who coordinated terrorist attacks, and two of his aides. In addition, cash and mobile phones were seized. It was noted that their detention would harm ISIS’s ability to plan and carry out attacks (CENTCOM, April 12, 2023; Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 13, 2023).
• On April 3, 2023, Khalil Abdullah al-Khalif, also known as Khaled Iyad Ahmad al-Jabouri, a senior ISIS operative in northwestern Syria, was killed in an airstrike. It was noted that he was planning ISIS attacks in Europe and developing the organization and that killing him would, at least temporarily, impair ISIS’s ability to plan attacks outside the borders of Syria (CENTCOM, April 3, 2023). Al-Jabouri, an Iraqi citizen, was reportedly killed while talking on the phone near his home in the rural area north of Idlib, in northwestern Syria, only 10 days after he arrived in the area and identified himself as a Syrian originating from the Deir ez-Zor region (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 5, 2023).

The United States imposed sanctions on Sami al-Uraydi, a senior Hurras al-Din operative

• The US Department of State designated Sami Mahmud Mohammed al-Uraydi,^[4] the senior religious authority of the Guardians of Religion Organization, Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Al-Uraydi is accused of involvement in planning terrorist attacks against the United States and Israel. Economic sanctions were imposed on him, and the US Department of State offered a reward of up to five million US dollars to anyone who provided information leading to his identification or details of his whereabouts (US Department of State, April 11, 2023).

Iraq

ISIS attacks by province^[5]

Diyala Province

• On April 15, 2023, an IED was activated against an Iraqi police vehicle in a neighborhood in western Baqubah. Two policemen were wounded (Telegram, April 16, 2023).

Al-Anbar Province

• On April 14, 2023, two mortar shells were fired at an Iraqi Army compound east of Rutba. No casualties or damage were reported (Telegram, April 14, 2023).

Salah al-Din Province

• On April 17, 2023, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle during an operation by the Iraqi security forces in Jazirat al-Siniyah, in the Baiji region. The passengers on board were killed or wounded (Telegram, April 17, 2023).
• On April 14, 2023, shots and RPG rockets were fired at an Iraqi Army compound on the Haditha-Baiji Road, about 200 km northwest of Baghdad. One soldier was wounded, and the compound sustained damage (Telegram, April 15, 2023).
•   On April 11, 2023, a Popular Mobilization vehicle was shot at near the entrance to the city of Tarmiyah, about 30 km north of Baghdad. No casualties were reported. The vehicle was damaged (Telegram, April 11, 2023).

   
ISIS operatives firing at a Popular Mobilization vehicle in the Al-Tarmiyah Province
(Amaq, Telegram, April 13, 2023)

• On April 10, 2023, an Iraqi Army compound was targeted by gunfire on the Baiji-Haditha Road. One soldier was wounded (Telegram, April 11, 2023).

Erbil Province

• On April 7, 2023, around midnight, ISIS attacked a position of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in a village in the Makhmur region, about 50 km southwest of Erbil. The attackers were repelled, and no casualties were reported (Rudaw, April 8, 2023).

Kirkuk Province

• On April 3, 2023, an IED was activated against an Iraqi police vehicle in the Al-Mas neighborhood, in northern Kirkuk. One policeman was wounded (Telegram, April 10, 2023). ISIS’s claim of responsibility was issued about a week after the attack.

Counterterrorism

Diyala Province

• On April 7, 2023, Iraqi Air Force aircraft carried out two airstrikes against caves where ISIS operatives were hiding in the Qara Tapa area, about 110 km northeast of Baqubah. Five ISIS operatives were killed (Iraqi News Agency, April 7, 2023).

Salah al-Din Province

• On April 7, 2023, teams of Iraqi National Intelligence officers working with local security forces detained an ISIS operative responsible for transporting ISIS operatives and messages from Jazirat Samarra, about 100 km northwest of Baghdad to the organization’s North Baghdad Province (Iraqi News Agency, April 7, 2023).

Kirkuk Province

• On April 18, 2023, the Iraqi Air Force carried out an airstrike against ISIS targets in the Wadi al-Shai area, about 30 km south of Kirkuk. Four ISIS operatives were killed. ISIS hiding places and guesthouses were destroyed in the attack (Iraqi News Agency, April 18, 2023).

Nineveh Province

•  On April 16, 2023, the Iraqi security forces in the Nineveh Province (the exact location was not specified) detained four ISIS operatives, including a commander. Their interrogation revealed that they had moved between three provinces, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, and had carried out attacks against the Iraqi security forces in recent years (Iraqi News Agency, April 16, 2023).

Summary of ISIS’s activity in the various provinces

• According to an infographic published by ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba, summing up ISIS’s activity in the period between March 30 and April 5, 2023, ISIS operatives carried out 33 attacks in the various provinces during this period (compared to 20 in the previous week). ISIS’S West Africa Province carried out the highest number of attacks (12). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: Syria (8); Iraq (6); Central Africa (3); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (2); Pakistan (1); and Somalia (1). A total of 63 people were killed and wounded in the attacks, compared to 69 people in the previous week. The largest number of casualties was in the West Africa Province (23). The other casualties were in the following provinces: Syria (16); Central Africa (14); Iraq (7); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (2); and Pakistan (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, April 6, 2023

• According to an infographic published by ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba, summing up ISIS’s activity in the period between April 6 and 12, 2023, ISIS operatives carried out 22 attacks in the various provinces during this period (compared to 33 in the previous week). The West Africa Province carried out the highest number of attacks (6). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: Central Africa (5); Syria (5); Iraq (5); and Pakistan (1). A total of 76 people were killed and wounded in the attacks, compared to 63 people in the week before. The largest number of casualties was in Central Africa (49). The other casualties were in the following provinces: West Africa (15); Syria (7); Iraq (4); and Pakistan (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, April 13, 2023).

ISIS attacks by week (according to ISIS data)

Africa

Nigeria

ISIS’s activity

• During the reporting period, ISIS’s activity in the country continued at a high-intensity level. The following are the main incidents:
  • On April 14, 2023, an attack was carried out against a Nigerian army checkpoint in the town of Gambaru on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. The soldiers manning the checkpoint fled (Telegram, April 15, 2023).
  • On April 13, 2023, a total of 13 militia fighters supporting the Nigerian army were abducted and executed near the town of Buni Gari in Yobe State, west of Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria (Telegram, April 17, 2023).
  • On April 12, 2023, shots were fired at a patrol of troops supporting the Nigerian army in the town of Karinoa in Borno State. One fighter was killed, and others were wounded. An assault rifle and four motorcycles were seized. Five other motorcycles were set on fire (Telegram, April 13, 2023).
  • On April 12, 2023, an attack was carried out against forces supporting the Nigerian army in the village of Gubula, in Adamawa State, in northeastern Nigeria. Two fighters were killed (Telegram, April 13, 2023).
  • On April 10, 2023, mortar shells were fired at a Nigerian army camp in the Goniri area, about 45 km southeast of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State. No casualties or damage were reported (Telegram, April 11, 2023).

Expansion of ISIS’s activity areas in Nigeria

• During the reporting period, there was unusual ISIS activity far from its centers of activity in northeastern Nigeria. This may indicate an attempt by ISIS operatives to expand their areas of activity in the country.

Activity in Jigawa State

• On April 11, 2023, an IED was detonated against three Christian civilians in the town of Dutse, in Jigawa State, northern Nigeria. The three were killed (Telegram, April 13, 2023). As far as the ITIC knows, this was ISIS’s first attack in Jigawa State.

Activity in Edo State

• On April 6, 2023, ISIS fired at a Nigerian police checkpoint on the Igarra-Auchi Road in Edo State, southwestern Nigeria. Three policemen were killed. A Nigerian police force that arrived at the scene of the attack traced the body of one of the attackers. Another attacker was wounded and evacuated for medical treatment. Four Nigerian police assault rifles and two additional assault rifles were found in the possession of the attackers. During his interrogation, the wounded terrorist noted that they came from the town of Okene, in southwestern Kogi State, north of Edo State. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack (The Whistler, April 8, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On April 6, 2023, a Nigerian army force operated against a Boko Haram camp on the edge of Sambisa Forest, about 60 km southeast of Maiduguri. A total of 18 Boko Haram operatives were killed (Zagazola, April 6, 2023).
• According to a report from April 6, 2023, an ISIS or Boko Haram logistics collaborator was detained by the Nigerian army with cash totaling 2.2 million Nigerian naira (about $4,800), hidden in a sack of corn that he intended to transfer to his brother (The Cable, April 7, 2023).

Niger

ISIS’s activity

• On April 8, 2023, an IED was activated against a Nigerien army patrol near the city of Diffa, near the Niger-Nigeria border. Two soldiers were killed, and others were wounded (Telegram, April 11, 2023).

The Democratic Republic of the Congo

ISIS’s activity

• ISIS intensified its attacks during the past two weeks against Christian residents along the Congo-Uganda border. The following are the main attacks:
  • On April 16, 2023, Christian civilians were ambushed and shot at on the Mambilinga-Nadalia Road, in the Ituri region, in the northeast of the country. Three people were killed. A motorcycle was set on fire (Telegram, April 16, 2023).
  • On April 9, 2023, Christian civilians were ambushed near the village of Musandaba, about 50 km west of the border with Uganda. Three people were kidnapped and executed. Their vehicle was set on fire (Telegram, April 10, 2023).
  • On April 8, 2023, an attack was carried out against civilians in a town in the Beni region. Fifteen civilians were killed, and others were wounded (Al-Naba, Telegram, April 13, 2023).
  • On April 7, 2023, an attack was carried out against civilians in the village of Musandaba. At least 20 civilians were killed. Vehicles, several motorcycles, and property were set on fire (Al-Naba, Telegram, April 13, 2023).
  • On April 7, 2023, ISIS operatives set up an ambush and attacked farmers near the village of Enebula. About 20 people were killed (Reuters, April 9, 2023).
  • On April 7, 2023, shots were fired at civilians in the village of Mongamba, in the Ituri region, in the northeast of the country. Six civilians were killed (Telegram, April 11, 2023).

Mozambique

ISIS’s activity

• On April 15, 2023, an attack was carried out against a compound of the Mozambican army and a Southern African Development Community (SADC) force in the village of Mianjaliwa, in the Muidumbe region, in Cabo Delgado Province, in the northeast of the country. One soldier was killed, and others were wounded. Weapons and ammunition were seized, and the compound was set on fire. ISIS announced that the attacks against the village of Mianjaliwa were carried out several days after Christian residents began to return to the village following the announcement of the Mozambican government and the militias that the area is secure and they can return (Amaq, Telegram, April 16, 2023).

Burkina Faso

Terrorist activity

• On April 6, 2023, two villages in northeastern Burkina Faso were attacked, Kourakou and Tondobi, situated about 10 km southwest of the Burkina Faso-Niger border. A total of 44 people were killed and 33 wounded. The attackers were reportedly neutralized. No organization claimed responsibility for the attacks, but it is known that terrorist operatives affiliated with Al-Qaeda and ISIS operate in this area (Reuters, April 8, 2023; BBC, April 9, 2023).

Niger

ISIS’s activity

• On April 14, 2023, an IED was activated against a Nigerien army patrol between the villages of Yabi and Bosso, on the Niger-Nigeria border. Two soldiers were killed, and several others were wounded. A vehicle was destroyed (Telegram, April 16, 2023).
• On April 13, 2023, an IED was activated against a Nigerien army patrol in the village of Galori, near the Niger-Nigeria border. Three soldiers were killed, and four others were wounded. A vehicle was destroyed (Telegram, April 15, 2023).

Asia

Afghanistan

Counterterrorism

• On April 9, 2023, Taliban Special Forces operated against a hiding place of ISIS operatives in the Sayed Abad area, in southwestern Afghanistan. The exchange of fire between the sides reportedly lasted about 30 minutes. Two ISIS operatives were killed, another was detained, and military equipment in the possession of the ISIS operatives was seized. There were no casualties among the Taliban fighters or civilians (AP, April 9, 2023).

Pakistan

ISIS’s activity

• On April 13, 2023, hand grenades were thrown at a Pakistani police compound in the city of Qalat, in the Balochistan Province, about 110 km south of Quetta. Several policemen were wounded. The compound sustained damage (Telegram, April 13, 2023).
• On April 10, 2023, a “sorcerer” was shot and killed in the Mastung area, about 50 km east of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Telegram, April 10, 2023).

Europe

Sweden

• On April 4, 2023, a Swedish Security Service force detained five people affiliated with ISIS on suspicion of planning to carry out an attack on Swedish soil. It was noted that this was apparently an attempt to retaliate for burning a Quran in January 2023 in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of an extreme right-wing party (Euractiv, April 5, 2023).

United Kingdom

• There are reportedly 19 suspected terrorist operatives in Britain, who receive asylum seeker status and receive generous funding at the expense of the British taxpayer. These are suspected terrorists who crossed the English Channel from France in 2022 and entered the UK in small boats illegally, and now a legal issue is emerging, indicating that they will probably not be deportable from the UK due to the country’s human rights laws. Five of the suspects are Iraqis, five Iranians, four Afghans, four Somalis, and one Libyan. Seven of the suspects are under active investigation in other countries. Five of the seven are suspected ISIS operatives (three Iraqis and two Afghans). The other two are affiliated with Iranian terrorist organizations. Apparently, some of the 19 suspects are under surveillance by the British authorities (Daily Mail, April 11, 2023).

United States

• On April 4, 2023, a lawsuit was filed in a Manhattan federal court against Standard Chartered Bank, headquartered in New York City. The lawsuit was filed by the families of two US Army soldiers killed on April 6, 2013, because of an IED detonated against them in Afghanistan. According to the lawsuit, the bank provided financial services to the Fatimah Group in Pakistan, even though the bank knew that the company was sending Al-Qaeda an unlimited supply of calcium Ammonium nitrate, which is the primary component of IEDs. It was noted that senior US administration officials had met in 2013 with senior bankers at that bank and urged them to stop assisting terrorist attacks (New York Post, April 8, 2023).

The battle for hearts and minds

• The editorial of ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba (April 13, 2023), which appeared this week under the title “Hezbollah [Allah’s Party] or Satan’s Party?”, deals with Iranian and Hezbollah involvement in the Jerusalem issue, calling on Sunni Muslims not to cooperate with them (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, April 13, 2023). The author warns Sunni Muslims not to be deceived by the empty slogans of Iran and Hezbollah regarding the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem from Israel. He says that if Iran and its proxies take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, as they declare, they will severely harm the rights and lives of Sunni Muslims, as they have done in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.
• According to the writer, Iran’s use of Jerusalem is intended only to promote its hegemony in the region, when in practice it does not lift a finger on behalf of Jerusalem. He says Iran has recently exploited its Palestinian satellites (i.e., mainly Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad) to coordinate attacks against Israel at the expense of Palestinian blood. He adds that the Palestinian factions serve Iran’s interests and help it present itself as representing the interests of all Muslims in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, instead of understanding that they are only a tool serving the interests of Shiites, who have persecuted members of the Sunni community throughout Islamic history.
• The writer notes that from a historical perspective, the Muslim leaders who liberated Jerusalem were Sunni and non-Shiite leaders: first, the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (7th century CE) and later Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (12nd century CE). The former, as the writer notes, was assassinated by a Shiite, and the second managed to conquer Jerusalem only after striking the leaders of the Shiite Fatimid dynasty.
•  The writer concludes the article by calling on the Sunni community (i.e., especially Palestinians) not to engage with Iran and Hezbollah (“Satan’s Party”).

^[1] According to ISIS claims of responsibility and global media. ↑
^[2] The Al-Quds Brigade is a Palestinian army force handled by the Assad regime as a supporting force for the Syrian Army. The brigade was established in October 2013 and numbers several thousand fighters. During the civil war, Al-Quds Brigade fighters were handled by the Syrian regime against the rebel organizations in various arenas, in defensive and offensive missions, and acquired combat experience, mainly in fighting in built-up areas. In the ITIC’s assessment, this force has the highest military capability among the other Palestinian forces and militias handled by the Syrian regime. It is possible that this force is supported financially and logistically by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force. For further information, see the ITIC’s study from March 19, 2018, “Armed Palestinian forces, militias and organizations handled by the Syrian regime in the Syrian civil war.” ↑
^[3] Most of the fighters in the Al-Quds Brigade are Palestinians, but there are also Syrian fighters. ↑
^[4] Sheikh Dr. Sami al-Uraydi, aka Abu Mahmoud al-Shami, is a Jordanian cleric born in Amman (1973), who is a senior authority on Islamic religious law (perhaps even the most senior) in the Hurras al-Din organization. In the past, he was also a religious authority in the Al-Nusra Front, an organization that preceded Hurras al-Din and was an Al-Qaeda branch in Syria. For further details, see the ITIC’s Information Bulletin from February 24, 2014, “Sheikh Sami al-Uraydi: Portrait of a Jordanian cleric who serves as a senior religious authority for the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch.” ↑
^[5] According to ISIS claims of responsibility and the global media. ↑

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