Spotlight on Global Jihad (May 11-17, 2023)

Main events of the past week

• This week, ISIS’s activity around the world has moderately increased. The hotspots of activity were in Syria, Iraq, and Africa.
• Syria: In Damascus, ISIS operatives detonated an IED against a police car. Three policemen were killed, two of them officers. In the desert region, there was an increase in activity this week. Three officers, one of them with the rank of brigadier general, were killed by persons unknown, apparently ISIS operatives, in the Al-Rasafah Desert. Two members of the Syrian army or the forces supporting it and another unidentified person were killed by gunmen, apparently ISIS operatives, in the Al-Sukhnah Desert.
• Iraq: ISIS carried out four attacks this week, killing six members of the Iraqi security forces, three of them Popular Mobilization fighters. This is an increase in ISIS’s activity after it declined over the past weeks.
• Africa:
  • Nigeria: ISIS continued its intensive activity against targets of the Nigerian army and the forces of the African Coalition (MNJTF).^[1] The most noteworthy was the detonation of car bombs in three incidents.
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo: ISIS continued its activity against Christian residents near the border with Uganda.
  • Burkina Faso: Militants, apparently Al-Qaeda or ISIS operatives, killed at least 33 civilians and set their property on fire.
  • Somalia: Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab executed dozens of ISIS operatives detained by it.
• The battle for hearts and minds: With Israel’s Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip in the background, ISIS supporters disseminated a poster on social media criticizing Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) for their strategic alliance with Iran and Hezbollah.

Sinai Peninsula

Boy killed in the explosion of an IED

• On May 12, 2023, an IED exploded in the Tuffaha area, south of Bir al-Abd, in the northwestern Sinai Peninsula. A ten-year-old boy was killed and his two sisters were seriously wounded. Apparently, it was an old IED planted by ISIS (Sinai for Human Rights, May 12, 2023).

The Syrian Arena^[2]

ISIS’s activity

Damascus

• On the morning of May 10, 2023, an IED exploded inside a police car at the Barzeh police compound in northeastern Damascus. Muhannad Fendi Jad Allah, a police officer with the rank of superintendent, was killed and four other policemen were wounded (SANA, May 10, 2023). It was later reported that two of the wounded died, one of them an officer with the rank of sub-inspector (Euronews, May 11, 2023; Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May 14, 2023). ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, announcing that its operatives had planted the IED in a vehicle inside a police station in the Barzeh region (Telegram, May 10, 2023).

The Al-Raqqah region

• On May 14, 2023, persons unknown, apparently ISIS operatives, beheaded a security guard of the Kurdish SDF Forces’ Civilian Council in central Tabqa, about 40 km west of Al-Raqqah (Deir ez-Zor 24, May 14, 2023). The body of the dead man was found by civilians in the rural area west of Al-Raqqah (Baladi, May 14, 2023).

Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region

• Two armed men, apparently ISIS operatives, who were riding a motorcycle, shot at a Kurdish Internal Security force fighter about 10 km northeast of Deir ez-Zor. The fighter was wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May 15, 2023).
• When a Syrian army force was searching for ISIS terrorist cells east of Deir ez-Zor, apparently an old mine was activated. An officer with the rank of second lieutenant was wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May 16, 2023).

The desert region

• Unknown assailants, apparently ISIS operatives, fired at a vehicle in the Al-Rasafah Desert, about 40 km southwest of Al-Raqqah. The bodies of three Syrian army officers were found at the site: the battalion commander of the Syrian army artillery corps in Deir ez-Zor, Brigadier General Iyad Murhij, and two of his escorts, officers with the rank of second lieutenant (Deir ez-Zor 24, May 16, 2023; Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May 16, 2023).

• On May 15, 2023, a rocket was fired, apparently by ISIS operatives, at a bus carrying Syrian civilians and military personnel from Damascus to Deir ez-Zor while traveling in the Al-Sukhnah Desert, about 60 km northeast of Palmyra. Two fighters belonging to the Syrian army or the forces supporting it and another person whose identity is unknown were killed (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, May 16, 2023).

Counterterrorism

Al-Hasakah region

•  On May 15, 2023, an SDF force supported by the Global Coalition against ISIS detained an ISIS commander and another suspect who was with him in an apartment in the town of Al-Dashisha, about 80 km south of Al-Hasakah. The detained commander had acted to carry out attacks against the SDF forces and civilians and was responsible for the activity of ISIS’s terrorist cells in southern Al-Hasakah and northern Deir ez-Zor. A search of the apartment revealed weapons and documents proving his connection to ISIS (SDF Press, May 15, 2023).

Northwestern Syria

• On May 10, 2023, a Turkish intelligence force detained four ISIS operatives in northwestern Syria (the exact location was not specified). One of the detainees was Shihab Warish, a senior ISIS operative who previously served as ISIS’s commander (wali) in Turkey and was on Turkey’s wanted list. Warish is connected to many terrorist attacks ISIS planned to carry out on Turkish soil (TRT, May 10, 2023).

Iraq

ISIS attacks by province^[3]

Nineveh Province

• On May 10, 2023, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army patrol in Jazirat Al-Khader, about 90 km southwest of Mosul. An officer and three soldiers were wounded (Telegram, May 13, 2023).

Salah al-Din Province

• On May 11, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked an Iraqi police post about 20 km southeast of Samarra. An officer at the post was killed. An Iraqi security force searching the area killed three ISIS operatives, one of whom was wearing an explosive belt. Weapons and night vision binoculars were found in the possession of the dead operatives (Al-Sumaria, May 11, 2023).
• On May 9, 2023, ISIS operatives entered the home of an Iraqi government “agent” in the village of Albu Ghantus, in the Tarmiyah area, about 30 km north of Baghdad, and shot him to death (Telegram, May 10, 2023).

Al-Anbar Province

• On May 14, 2023, Iraqi army forces were targeted by gunfire on the Baghdad-Amman Road, about 90 km east of Al-Rutba, in western Iraq. One vehicle was put out of commission (Telegram, May 15, 2023). No casualties were reported.

Erbil Province

• On May 11, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked a Popular Mobilization force about 40 km southwest of Erbil. Six ISIS operatives were reportedly killed in the attack (Kurdistan24, May 12, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• Major General Tahsin al-Khafaji, the spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, announced that since the beginning of 2023, a total of 105 ISIS operatives had been killed. He said that all the operatives killed were Iraqi citizens and that most of them were killed in airstrikes and operations. Al-Khafaji added that there had been considerable improvement in the Iraqi security forces in terms of both air and intelligence capabilities (Iraqi News Agency, May 9, 2023).

Kirkuk Province

• On May 15, 2023, Iraqi Air Force fighter jets carried out an airstrike against members of an ISIS terrorist cell in Wadi al-Shai, about 30 km south of Kirkuk. Six ISIS operatives were killed, and several ISIS guesthouses were destroyed (Al-Sumaria, May 16, 2023).

Summary of ISIS’s activity in the various provinces

• An infographic published by ISIS’s weekly Al-Naba, summing up ISIS’s activity in the period between May 4 and 10, 2023, indicates that during this period, ISIS operatives carried out 12 attacks in the various provinces (compared with 17 the previous week). The West Africa Province carried out the highest number of attacks (6). Attacks carried out in the other provinces: Al-Sahel (2); Syria (1); Central Africa (1); Iraq (1); and Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (1). A total of 28 people were killed and wounded in the attacks, compared with 73 people the week before. The West Africa Province had the largest number of fatalities and wounded (11). The other casualties: Al-Sahel (7); Syria (5); Central Africa (3); Iraq (1); and Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (1) (Al-Naba weekly, Telegram, May 11, 2023)

Weekly attacks (according to ISIS’s figures)

Africa

Nigeria

ISIS’s activity

• During the past week, ISIS continued its activity against the Nigerian army and the African Coalition and against local residents in Borno State, in the northeast of the country. Three incidents of car bomb detonations took place against the African Coalition (MNJTF):
• On May 14, 2023, two car bombs were detonated against a convoy of African Coalition (MNJTF) vehicles in the Lake Chad area and near the Nigeria-Niger border. After the explosion of the cars, ISIS operatives opened fire in an ambush. Three soldiers were killed and ten were wounded. ISIS reportedly also sustained losses (Zagazola, May 15, 2023). ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. According to its announcement, the detonation of the car bombs and the exchanges of fire caused the African Coalition around 50 dead and wounded (Amaq, Telegram, May 16, 2023).

•  On May 10, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. local time, ISIS operatives with a car bomb attacked Nigerian army and African Coalition forces in the Lake Chad area, about 40 km southwest of the Nigeria-Niger-Chad tri-border area. The forces, recognizing the danger, opened fire at the car bomb, and it blew up about 300 meters in front of them. A total of 10 ISIS operatives were killed in the exchange of fire between the sides and with Nigerian Army air support. Two ISIS vehicles were destroyed (Zagazola, May 11, 2023). ISIS claimed responsibility for detonating the car bomb. According to the organization, many of the African Coalition soldiers were killed or wounded (Amaq, Telegram, May 16, 2023).

• On May 8, 2023, the African Coalition forces operated against ISIS positions in the Lake Chad area. There were exchanges of fire between the forces and ISIS, and a car bomb driven by a suicide bomber codenamed Omar al-Ansari was detonated. According to ISIS, many African Coalition fighters were killed or wounded (Telegram, May 9, 2023).

• The following are additional incidents:
  • On May 13, 2023, an attack was carried out against a Nigerian army compound in the town of Khadamari, just 8 km northeast of Maiduguri. The soldiers fled. The compound and vehicles were set on fire (Telegram, May 14, 2023).
  • On May 12, 2023, there were exchanges of fire between ISIS operatives and African Coalition forces that tried to advance towards ISIS positions near the town of Arji. African Coalition soldiers fled (Telegram, May 14, 2023).
  • On May 11, 2023, four civilians were shot at about 7 km from Damboa. Three civilians were killed and one was wounded (Daily Trust, May 12, 2023).
  • On May 10, 2023, an IED was activated against a Nigerian army patrol near the town of Bursu. One vehicle was put out of commission (Telegram, May 14, 2023). No casualties were reported.
  • On May 9, 2023, there were exchanges of fire between ISIS operatives and Nigerian army patrols near the Garno Forest, about 60 km southeast of Maiduguri. Several soldiers were killed or wounded. An armored vehicle and vehicles were destroyed (Telegram, May 11, 2023).

• • On May 9, 2023, a Nigerian army force operated against ISIS enclaves in the Talala area, in the Damboa region. ISIS operatives fired RPG rockets at the force. As a result, at least 12 people, including eight soldiers, were wounded (Daily Trust, May 12, 2023).
  • On May 8, 2023, two Nigerian army compounds were attacked in the town of Khadamari, just 8 km northeast of Maiduguri. The soldiers fled. An assault rifle was seized, and the compounds were set on fire (Telegram, May 10, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• On May 13, 2023, Lieutenant-General Faruk Yahaya, the Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army, announced that 6,251 newly recruited soldiers would be deployed throughout the country to act against the security challenges posed by operatives of Boko Haram and ISIS’s West Africa Province, who, according to him, carry out robberies, kidnappings, religious extremism, separatist activity, and other criminal activity (Ripples Nigeria, May 13, 2023).
• On May 13, 2023, a Nigerian army force operated against ISIS’s Ukuba camp, in Sambisa Forest, about 60 km southeast of Maiduguri. An underground warehouse containing a large quantity of weapons and ammunition belonging to ISIS’s West Africa Province was found, including RPG rockets and rocket launchers, hand grenades, and machine gun bullets (Vanguard, May 14, 2023).

     
Part of the weapons found in the warehouse (dailypost.ng, May 15, 2023)

Democratic Republic of the Congo

ISIS’s activity

• ISIS carried out several attacks against Christian civilians near the Congo-Uganda border:
  • On May 14, 2023, Christian civilians were ambushed and shot at on the Beni-Kasindi Road, about 8 km west of the Congo-Uganda border. One man was killed and two others were wounded. A vehicle was set on fire (Telegram, May 14, 2023).
  • On May 12, 2023, an attack was carried out against the Christian village of Cotongo, in the Beni area, about 50 km west of the Congo-Uganda border. Two civilians were killed and others were wounded (Telegram, May 13, 2023).
  • On May 11, 2023, an attack was carried out against a Congolese control post on the Campo Floating Bridge which connects the two banks of the Semliki River, about 8 km west of the Congo-Uganda border. A security guard and two civilians were killed. The control post, two vehicles, and two motorcycles were set on fire. As a result of the attack, the bridge sank into the river and cut off the only commercial passage in the area (Telegram, May 12, 2023).

Mozambique

• On May 11, 2023, ISIS operatives abducted a Christian civilian in the village of Miangliwe, in the Muidumbe region, in the northeast of the country. He was executed (Telegram, May 13, 2023).

Cameroon

• On May 11, 2023, ISIS operatives attacked a Cameroonian army compound in the town of Jigagi, in the north of the country. The soldiers fled (Telegram, May 12, 2023).

Burkina Faso

• On May 11, 2023, terrorist operatives (their organizational affiliation was not specified, but they were apparently ISIS or Al-Qaeda operatives) on motorcycles attacked farmers working their land near the river in the village of Youlou, in western Burkina Faso. At least 33 civilians were killed and three were wounded. A great deal of property was set on fire (VOA, May 13, 2023).

Somalia

• On May 14, 2023, an IED was activated, apparently by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab, against a Somali army vehicle in the capital Mogadishu. Four soldiers were killed, and several others were wounded (Garowe Online, May 15, 2023).

Al-Shabaab executed dozens of detained ISIS operatives

• Somalia’s official news agency, SONNA, reported that Al-Shabaab had recently executed dozens of ISIS detainees it captured in the northeast of the country. According to the report, the execution took place in revenge for the killing of Al-Shabaab operatives by ISIS in recent years (SONNA, May 13, 2023).

Additional Al-Shabaab activity

• On the evening of May 10, 2023, Al-Shabaab operatives fired mortar shells at the town of Harardhere. No casualties were reported (Garowe Online, May 11, 2023).

Counterterrorism

• This week, the Somali army continued its counterterrorism activity against Al-Shabaab northeast and southwest of Mogadishu:
  • On May 12, 2023, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency conducted an operation with the assistance of international partners (apparently referring to the US Africa Command) against Al-Shabaab on the outskirts of the town of Kurtowarey, in southern Somalia. At least 44 Al-Shabaab operatives, including senior commanders, were killed (Anatolia News Agency, May 13, 2023).
  • On the night of May 10-11, 2023, a special operation was conducted by the Somali army against a concentration of Al-Shabaab forces in the Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia. Five Al-Shabaab operatives were killed, and several others were wounded (Peoples Gazette, May 11, 2023).

Asia

ISIS’s presence in Afghanistan

• On May 11, 2023, the Islamabad Security Dialogue conference was held in Islamabad, Pakistan, with representatives from East Asia. In the conference, Kyrgyzstan’s Secretary of the Security Council Marat Imankulov warned of an ISIS presence in Afghanistan. According to him, the terrorist organization is implementing an aggressive strategy towards Afghanistan’s neighbors: Iran, China, Russia, and countries in Central Asia. In addition, he noted that ISIS plans to deploy more than 7,000 operatives in northern Afghanistan in the summer of 2023. He pointed to the growth and expansion of the activity of radical Islamic groups with roots in Central Asia and China, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Front of East Turkestan, Jamaat Ansar Allah, and ISIS and Al-Qaeda (SNN, May 14, 2023; Twitter page of the conference, May 11, 2023).

Iran

• Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards had detained an ISIS operative squad in Fars Province, southern Iran. The squad’s main operative had reportedly been under intelligence surveillance since 2018, when he carried out activity in several provinces, including Tehran, to recruit operatives for the organization (Tasnim, May 16, 2023).

The battle for hearts and minds

ISIS supporters criticize the Palestinian-Iranian alliance

• On the background of Israel’s Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip, ISIS supporters published a poster featuring Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei overlooking them from above. The poster included the English-language inscription “Al-Quds does not credit them with a connection,” implying that there is no justification for Palestinian organizations to work alongside Iran, not even on the issue of Jerusalem.
• ISIS’s criticism of Hamas and PIJ due to their strategic alliance with the Iranian regime and Hezbollah is based on the organization’s perception that members of the Sunni community must unite among themselves against their enemies under the banner of Salafist-jihadi Islam and fight against Shiite Iran and the West. According to ISIS, the Iranian regime uses Jerusalem as a common denominator to bring Palestinian Muslims, who are Sunni, to its side, while the Iranians ultimately seek to promote a radical Shiite agenda at the expense of the Sunni community (Telegram, May 12, 2023; @Michael_Barak Twitter account, May 12, 2023).^[4]

Film about ISIS sparks public controversy in India

• On May 5, 2023, the film “The Kerala Story” was released across India, about three young women from the southwestern Indian state of Kerala who are recruited by ISIS, undergo indoctrination, convert to Islam, and are sent to ISIS camps. This Hindi-speaking film brought in 450 million rupees (about $5.5 million) in ticket sales in just four days, a rarity in the Indian film industry.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the film director Sudipto Sen, saying the film shows the consequences of terrorism. On the other hand, some people strongly criticized the film, saying that it encourages negative feelings against the country’s Muslim minority. The eastern Indian state of West Bengal, where Muslims constitute around 30% of the population, banned the film to prevent potential incidents of hatred and violence (Saltwire, May 9, 2023).

^[1] The Multinational Joint Task Force, consisting of troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Niger. ↑
^[2] According to ISIS’s claims of responsibility and the global media. ↑
^[3] According to ISIS’s claims of responsibility and the global media. ↑
^[4] https://twitter.com/Michael_Barak/status/1657069435817951248/photo/1 ↑

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