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

Main events of the past week

• 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.

The Syrian Arena

ISIS’s activity

The desert region

• On August 15, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked a weapons depot used by militia fighters supporting the Syrian army in Palmyra’s desert periphery. Three of the force operatives, who apparently secured the warehouse, were killed and eight others were wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, August 15, 2023).
• On August 10, 2023, ISIS operatives ambushed a Syrian army bus around the town of Muaizila, about 50 km south of Al-Mayadeen. A total of 33 soldiers were killed. It was ISIS’s deadliest attack in Syria since the beginning of 2023 (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, August 11-12, 2023). According to a local source, the attack targeted several buses carrying soldiers from the Syrian army’s 17th Division from their positions in the T2 Pumping Station area to their headquarters (Deir ez-Zor 24, August 12, 2023).
• ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and announced that on the evening of August 10, 2023, an ambush was set up and small arms and RPG rockets were fired at two buses carrying dozens of soldiers from the Syrian army’s 17th Division. One of the buses caught fire and most of the soldiers on board were killed. The other bus was put out of commission. According to ISIS, around 40 soldiers were killed and at least ten were wounded (Telegram, August 11, 2023).

     
Right: The bus being attacked. Left: The bus going up in flames (Telegram, August 11 and 14, 2023)

Al-Hasakah region

• On the night of August 12-13, 2023, an IED was activated against a vehicle carrying operatives of the Kurdish internal security forces, the Asayish, on the Al-Hasakah-Al-Hol Road (about 35 km southeast of Al-Hasakah). Two fighters were wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, August 13, 2023). ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, noting that two fighters were wounded, and the vehicle caught fire (Telegram, August 13, 2023).

Idlib region

• On August 16, 2023, operatives of the rebel forces, led by HTS, fired at Syrian army forces in the western periphery of Aleppo (northeast of the rebel enclave in Idlib). A Syrian army officer with the rank captain was killed (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, August 14, 2023).

Deir ez-Zor-al-Mayadeen region

• On August 13, 2023, an SDF fighter was shot and killed in the Al-Shahil area (Telegram, August 14, 2023).
• According to Syrian sources, on August 10, 2023, a meeting was held in the city of Al-Mayadeen between the IRGC commander in the region, codenamed Hajj Salman, and senior ISIS figures in eastern and northern Syria. At the meeting, Hajj Salman pledged to provide financial and logistical support for ISIS operatives operating against US forces stationed east of the Euphrates River. The meeting was held in an apartment taken over by the pro-Iranian militias, where interrogations are being conducted of elements suspected of activity against the militias. According to the report, the apartment has recently also been used for meetings between pro-Iranian elements and ISIS commanders to coordinate operations against the US forces east of the Euphrates River (Ayn al-Furat, August 10, 2023).

Counterterrorism

Aleppo region

• According to a report from August 10, 2023, the Turkish intelligence agency has assisted the opposition forces operating on its behalf in northern Syria to arrest three ISIS operatives who were planning to carry out terrorist activity. Weapons were found in their possession (Anatolia News Agency, August 10, 2023).

Iraq

ISIS’s activity

Diyala Province

• On August 13, 2023, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army patrol in the village of Bijat, in the Bahraz region, about 2 km southeast of Baqubah. A Hummer was destroyed and the passengers on board were wounded (Telegram, August 14, 2023).

Salah al-Din Province

• On August 8, 2023, machine guns and an RPG rocket were fired at a Tribal Mobilization post supporting the Iraqi army north of the city of Al-Alam. A Tribal Mobilization fighter was killed (Telegram, August 12, 2023).

Counterterrorism

Kirkuk Province

• On August 12, 2023, the Iraqi security forces detained a senior ISIS commander in the Kirkuk Province. He was responsible on behalf of ISIS for a workshop for making bulletproof vehicles, manufacturing car bombs, and IEDs (Iraqi News Agency, August 12, 2023).

Salah al-Din Province

• On August 11, 2023, the Iraqi security forces detained a wanted ISIS operative in the Al-Shirqat district, about 100 km west of Kirkuk, after he had fled there from the Nineveh Province. He had been in charge of an ISIS cell (Iraqi News Agency, August 11, 2023).

UN terrorism experts: ISIS still has thousands of operatives in Syria and Iraq

• UN terrorism experts provided an update on August 15, 2023, according to which ISIS still has thousands of operatives in Syria and Iraq and the organization poses a real threat in Afghanistan. According to the experts, ISIS has between 5,000-7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq, and it poses its greatest threat in Afghanistan. Regarding the organization’s threat level around the world, the experts note that from the beginning of 2023, ISIS has posed a high threat in conflict zones and a low threat in areas where there is no conflict. It has adapted its strategy to its current situation. It assimilates itself into local populations, examines the cost-benefit before carrying out attacks, and at the same time rebuilds its power and recruits operatives in northeastern Syria and among weak populations in nearby countries (Associated Press, August 15, 2023).

Summary of ISIS’s activity in the various provinces

• According to an infographic published by Al-Naba, ISIS’s weekly, summarizing ISIS’s activity in the period between August 3 and 9, 2023, ISIS operatives carried out 11 attacks in the various provinces during this period (compared with 31 in the previous week). The highest number of attacks were carried out by the West Africa Province (4). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: the Sahel (2); Syria (2); Central Africa (1); Iraq (1); and East Asia (1). A total of 84 people were killed and wounded, compared with 441 in the previous week. The largest number of casualties was in the Sahel province (47). In the rest of the provinces: West Africa (25); Central Africa (4); Syria (4); Iraq (3); and East Asia (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, August 10,2023). This is a significant decrease in ISIS’s activity around the world compared to the previous week.

Attacks by week (according to ISIS’s figures)

Africa

Nigeria

ISIS’s activity

• On August 13, 2023, an attack was carried out against a Nigerian army position in the town of Lumani, Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria. Several soldiers were wounded (Telegram, August 14, 2023).
• On August 12, 2023, an attack was carried out against two local militia fighters in the town of Pulka, about 90 km southeast of Maiduguri and 12 km northwest of the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Both fighters were killed (Telegram, August 13, 2023).

Boko Haram Activity

• On August 12, 2023, Boko Haram operatives attacked a Nigerian army base near the town of Konduga, in the Lake Chad region of northeastern Nigeria. Three Nigerian soldiers were killed (trtworld.com, August 13, 2023).
• On August 12, 2023, Boko Haram operatives surrounded and killed ten civilians in the village of Maiwa, near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria (trtworld.com, August 13, 2023).
• On August 12, 2023, Boko Haram operatives attacked a civilian convoy in the town of Banki, on the Nigeria-Cameroon border. Five civilians were killed and eight women were abducted (punchng.com August 12, 2023).

Boko Haram threatens to intensify attacks

• On August 13, 2023, a video was released of Boko Haram operatives operating in the Mandara Mountains in northern Cameroon and along part of the border with Nigeria, in which the speaker, with dozens of armed operatives behind him, threatens to increase IED and suicide bombing attacks against the Nigerian government and its citizens. In addition, a threat was made to attack fighters of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), operating together with the Nigerian army to eradicate the organization’s activity (Zagazola, August 13, 2023)

Counterterrorism

• On August 11, 2023, the Nigerian Air Force attacked ISIS targets in the Bama area, southeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria. Several ISIS operatives were killed, and a market used by them was destroyed (zagazola.org, August 13, 2023).
• On August 11, 2023, during an operation by the Nigerian army against Boko Haram operatives in the Bama area, at least eight Boko Haram operatives turned themselves in (zagazola.org, August 11, 2023).

Mozambique

• On August 8, 2023, an attack was carried out against a Mozambican army compound in the village of Catupa, about 40 km northeast of Macomia, in Cabo Delgado province in the northeast of the country. Seven soldiers were killed and ten wounded. Weapons, including about 50 assault rifles, RPG launchers, mortars, and crates of ammunition were seized, and the compound was set on fire (Telegram, August 11, 2023).

      
ISIS operatives next to the bodies of Mozambican army soldiers and the weapons they seized (Telegram, August 11, 2023)

Mali

• The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen, JNIM), Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Sahel, issued two announcements about the organization’s activities in Mali:
  • On August 13, 2023, operatives attacked a UN peacekeeping force (the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) south of Timbuktu. According to the announcement, a fighter of the peacekeeping force was killed (Telegram, August 14, 2023).
  • On August 11, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked a force of Malian army soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries on the periphery of the city of Timbuktu. According to the announcement, the military forces, backed by Wagner Group mercenaries, attempted to advance towards the city of Timbuktu but were attacked with massive fire. According to the organization, dozens of soldiers from the Malian army and the Wagner Group were killed and wounded (Telegram, August 12, 2023).

Somalia

Al-Shabaab activity

• On August 12, 2023, Al-Shabaab operatives ambushed a Somali army convoy on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Twelve Somali soldiers were killed (Shahada News Agency, August 12, 2023).
• On August 12, 2023, Al-Shabaab operatives attacked a checkpoint of militias supporting the Somali army on the outskirts of the city of Kismayo. Seven militia fighters were killed and six others were wounded (Shahada News Agency, August 12, 2023).
• On August 12, 2023, Al-Shabaab operatives attacked a Somali army control post on the outskirts of Kismayo. Three Somali soldiers were killed. A rescue force of Somali government special units arriving on the scene was also attacked. According to Al-Shabaab, 15 fighters of those units were killed and 17 were wounded (Shahada News Agency, August 12, 2023).
• On August 11, 2023, an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in a crowded place in the town of Jalalaqsi, about 140 km north of Mogadishu. At least five people were killed and four others were wounded (VOA, August 11, 2023).
• On August 11, 2023, Al-Shabaab activated an IED against a Somali army vehicle in the Yaqshid district, north of Mogadishu. Three Somali soldiers were killed (VOA, August 11, 2023).
• On August 9, 2023, an Al-Shabaab roadside bomb exploded against a civilian minibus in the Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia. At least six people were killed and twelve others were wounded (VOA, August 9, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On August 15, 2023, a Somali army force attacked Al-Shabaab operatives in the Galgaduud area in central Somalia. At least five Al-Shabaab operatives were killed (garoweonline.com, August 15, 2023).
• On August 13, 2023, the Somali army announced that over the past few days, it had managed to kill dozens of Al-Shabaab operatives in several operations in the Bulo-Fulay area, about 200 km west of Mogadishu (Somali News Agency SONNA, August 13, 2023).
• On August 8, 2023, Somali army forces, supported by international partners, attacked an Al-Shabaab stronghold in the Hiran area, in central Somalia. At least 25 Al-Shabaab operatives were killed (CGTN, August 9, 2023).

Asia

Yemen

Al-Qaeda activity

• On August 10, 2023, an IED was activated against a convoy of a force supporting the Yemeni government in southern Abyan Province, in southwestern Yemen. A commander with the rank of brigadier general and three soldiers were killed (Al-Jazeera, August 10, 2023).

Release of five UN members abducted by Al-Qaeda

• Five UN staff members abducted in Yemen about a year and a half ago by Al-Qaeda have been released from captivity on August 11, 2023. Four of the abductees are Yemeni nationals and the fifth is from Bangladesh (wionews.com, August 12, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On August 14, 2023, the Yemeni army announced that it had destroyed an Al-Qaeda base in the Abyan Province, southwestern Yemen, and that it had managed to eliminate the organization’s presence in the province (arabnews.com, August 14, 2023).

Iran

ISIS’s activity

• On the evening of August 13, 2023, a terrorist operative armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and eight magazines carried out a shooting attack against people at the Shiite shrine of Shah-e Cheragh in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. The assailant fired eleven bullets until he was captured by security forces and Iranian civilians. At least one person was killed and between four and eight were wounded. According to information that has not been officially confirmed, the assailant’s name is S. Islam Yar, and he is from Tajikistan. It should be noted that on October 26, 2022, an ISIS operative fired at this shrine, killing 12 people and wounding more than 20 (Al-Jazeera; Reuters, August 13, 2023; Tasnim and IRNA, August 14, 2023).^[1] So far, no claim of responsibility by any party has been found but ISIS is believed to be behind the attack.

Pakistan

ISIS’s activity

• On August 11, 2023, a counterterrorism fighter was shot at in the Kang area of the city of Mastung, about 45 km east of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Balochistan Province. He was killed, and his pistol was seized (Telegram, August 11, 2023).

Turkey

• Turkish intelligence agencies have reportedly gained access to a secret ISIS database containing the names of around 10,000 terrorist operatives operating in the organization who have not yet been caught and who have the potential to carry out attacks. The database contains biographical details about ISIS’s operatives, details about their training, organizational skills, and the weapons they used. In addition, there are details about nationality, family members, addresses, and contacts. The hunt for the database began with a Tajik-language phone conversation listened to by Turkish intelligence agencies, and it turned out that ISIS was negotiating the sale of some “cargo” and that the deal would take place in Istanbul. However, the contents of the “cargo” and the date of the transaction were unknown. The “cargo” turned out to be an electronic database of 9,952 terrorist operatives around the world (ifpnew, August 10, 2023).

Philippines

• According to the latest edition of ISIS’s Al-Naba weekly, on July 31, 2023, there were exchanges of fire between ISIS operatives and a patrol of one of the local militias in the Maguindanao area, in the southern Philippines. A local militia fighter was killed (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, August 10, 2023).

Indonesia

Counterterrorism

• On August 1, 2023, the Indonesian government’s counterterrorism unit arrested a suspected ISIS supporter at his home in the Bekasi area of West Java Province. A large quantity of weapons was found in the suspect’s house, including several rifles, pistols, air rifles converted into regular rifles, and hundreds of rifle and pistol bullets (trackingterrorism.org and thestar.com.my, August 15, 2023).

United States

Arrest of an American teenager who conspired with an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group

• Philadelphia authorities announced the arrest of a 17-year-old boy by the FBI for his ties with a terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda. After his arrest, the boy testified that he not only thought about joining a terrorist organization but also acted to do so. FBI agent Jacqueline Maguire said they learned of the boy’s association with the terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda. It is suspected that he received terrorist propaganda material and instruction on how to assemble a bomb. According to Maguire, it seems that the boy planned to travel abroad to join a terrorist organization. In addition, he purchased items for making improvised explosive devices. Among the items he purchased were tactical equipment and various chemicals (CBS Austin, August 14, 2023).

Al-Qaeda calls for the murder of senior diplomats

• Following the burning of Qurans in Sweden and Denmark, Al-Qaeda recently called for attacks on Swedish and Danish embassies and diplomats around the world (express.co.uk, August 13, 2023).

Additional pledges of allegiance to ISIS’s new leader

• This week, additional pledges of allegiance to ISIS’s new leader were published by ISIS operatives around the world. These were operatives from the Khorasan Province (i.e., Afghanistan), Al-Sham Province (i.e., Syria), and East Asia Province (i.e., the Philippines) (Telegram, August 12, 2023).

     
Operatives from the Khorasan Province and Al-Sham Province pledge allegiance to ISIS’s new leader (Telegram, August 12, 2023)

   
Operatives from the East Asia Province and Mozambique Province pledge allegiance to ISIS’s new leader (Telegram, August 12-14, 2023)

^[1] For further details, see the ITIC’s Information Bulletin from November 3, 2022, “ISIS’s attack on a Shiite shrine in Shiraz, Iran: analysis and possible implications” ↑

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