MESOPOTAMIA NEWS INTEL BY MEIR AMIT CENTER / ISRAEL – Spotlight on Global Jihad (June 2-9, 2021)

General Hassan Abdollahzadeh (left) with Commander Qassem Soleimani (Tasnim, May 5, 2021).

Documentation of the execution of the five “infidel Christians.”

Militiamen’s houses in the village of Kawaji that were set on fire by ISIS operatives (Telegram, June 6, 2021)

Documentation of the execution of the five “infidel Christians.”

Main events of the past week

• This week, ISIS’s activity in the various provinces continued at a “routine” level:
  • Syria: The main event this week was an attack, apparently carried out by ISIS operatives, against a convoy of the Syrian army and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Al-Sukhnah Desert, on the Palmyra-Deir ez-Zor highway. More than 20 of the passengers in the convoy were killed, including two senior commanders in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who served as advisers to the Syrian army, and a Syrian officer with the rank of general (liwa).
  • Iraq: ISIS claimed responsibility for detonating an IED near the tomb of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in the Shiite Kadhimiya neighborhood in northern Baghdad. The attack was aimed against Shiite civilians. Three people were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in the attack. The Iraqi government claimed that a gas tank had exploded in one of the restaurants in the neighborhood.
  • The Sinai Peninsula: ISIS operatives carried out a combined attack on an Egyptian army camp south of Sheikh Zuweid. The attack included sniper fire, additional gunfire at aid forces which arrived on the scene, and the activation of IEDs against a patrol that was combing the area.
  • There has been a downtrend in ISIS’s activity in Africa. A noteworthy incident this week was the attack on a Nigerian army base in the northeastern Nigerian town of Damboa and the simultaneous attack on the town’s police headquarters. About 20 soldiers and policemen were killed.
  • Libya: After a long period with no ISIS attacks in the country, this week ISIS carried out a suicide bombing attack at a roadblock set up by General Haftar’s army about 670 km south of Tripoli. At least four military personnel were killed, including an officer.
• The battle for hearts and minds:
  • Al-Qaeda published a letter calling on operatives, after the end of the operation in the Gaza Strip, to continue the war, focusing on recruiting young Muslims. The letter also announced the opening of the War of the Mosques, intended to save young Muslims from Westernization, led by “the Zionists and their Arab collaborators.”
  • ISIS: ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly continues to focus on the importance of propaganda. This time, the magazine addresses ISIS’s supporters, emphasizing the importance of their activity at the propaganda level, along with the organization’s official propaganda activity.

The Syrian arena

The Idlib region

• During the week, exchanges of artillery fire continued almost daily between the Syrian army and the forces supporting it, and the rebel forces (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights).

The desert region (Al-Badia)

• A convoy consisting of seven vehicles, of the Syrian army and Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers, was ambushed and attacked in the Al-Sukhnah Desert, on the Palmyra-Deir ez-Zor highway. A total of 25 (according to some reports, 23) people, including two senior IRGC commanders who had served as advisers to the Syrian army, were killed in the attack. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, there was a series of incidents and IED detonations in various sites in the desert region, which took place during Russian airstrikes against ISIS targets. So far, no claim of responsibility has been issued, but it seems that ISIS was responsible for it (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, June 5, 2021).
•  The Iranian officers killed were General Hassan Abdollahzadeh, who had served as an adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and to Qassem Soleimani, former IRGC’s Qods Force commander; and Brigadier General Sa’id Majidi. Mohsen Abbasi, the escort of Hassan Abdollahzadeh, was also killed. Among those killed was also Nizar Abbas al-Fahoud, a Syrian major general (Tasnim, June 5, 2021; Al-Ayn, June 5, 2021; Al-Hal, June 5, 2021; Al-Arabiya, June 5, 2021).

    
Right: General Hassan Abdollahzadeh (left) with Commander Qassem Soleimani (Tasnim, May 5, 2021). Left: The death notice of Sa’id Majidi; it can be seen that his rank was the equivalent of brigadier general (@SaleemAldulimi Twitter account, June 5, 2021).

• On June 3, 2021, an IED was activated against a Syrian army vehicle east of Salamiyah, about 30 km southeast of Hama. No casualties were reported. Two days earlier, a Syrian army camp (which was apparently empty) in the area was targeted by gunfire and sustained damage.

Al-Hasakah region

• On June 4, 2021, the SDF counterterrorism unit detained Abd al-Karim Abdullah, who had served as ISIS’s commander in Shadadi. He was detained in one of the villages in the Shadadi region (kurdistan24.net, June 4, 2021).

Al-Raqqah region

• ISIS claimed responsibility for carrying out several attacks in the region, including the detonation of IEDs against SDF vehicles (June 4, 6, 2021) and the abduction of an SDF member who was later executed (June 2, 2021).

 The Iraqi arena

• This week as well, ISIS operated in the various provinces in Iraq, but a significant decrease was evident in the number of attacks. The Iraqi security forces continued their counterterrorism measures against ISIS. The following is a list of attacks, mostly according to ISIS’s claims of responsibility.

Kirkuk Province

• On June 5, 2021, two Iraqi army camps were attacked south of Daquq, in the southern part of Kirkuk. One of them sustained damage. The camps were apparently empty of soldiers.
• On June 2, 2021, an Iraqi police post was targeted by gunfire in the Rashad region, about 40 km southwest of Kirkuk. One policeman was killed.

Salah al-Din Province

• On June 8, 2021, an IED was activated against a vehicle carrying Tribal Mobilization fighters in the Alam region, about 10 km north of Tikrit. The five passengers were wounded.
• On June 7, 2021, an Iraqi army camp about 50 km northwest of Baiji was targeted by gunfire. Two soldiers were killed.
• On June 5, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle west of Tuz Khormato, about 100 km northeast of Samarra. The passengers were killed or wounded.
• On June 3, 2021, there were exchanges of fire between ISIS and a joint force of the Iraqi police and Iraqi army in the Yathrib region, about 40 km southeast of Samarra. Two members of the joint force were wounded.
• On June 1, 2021, mortar shells were fired at the Popular Mobilization headquarters in the Mashahida region, about 20 km north of Baghdad. According to ISIS, definite hits were observed, but there were no details of casualties (Telegram, June 2, 2021). The Popular Mobilization confirmed the incident, noting that eight mortar shells had been fired but there were no casualties, since the shells landed outside the camp area (Popular Mobilization website, June 1, 2021).
• On May 31, 2021, an IED was activated in an Iraqi army camp in the Al-Abaiji region, about 40 km north of Baghdad. One soldier was wounded. In the same area, Popular Mobilization fighters were targeted by gunfire. One fighter was killed and another was wounded.

Baghdad Province

• On June 3, 2021, ISIS claimed responsibility for detonating an IED against a group of Shiites near the tomb of Imam Musa al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya neighborhood, in northern Baghdad. At least three people were killed and at least 20 others were wounded. According to the Iraqi government, a gas tank exploded in one of the restaurants in the neighborhood (Al-Hurra, June 3, 2021). ISIS claimed that the Iraqi government had attempted to cover up the incident in order to hide the fact that ISIS operatives had managed to infiltrate the area (Telegram, June 4, 2021).

Al-Anbar Province

• On June 5, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army foot patrol near the Iraqi-Saudi border. One soldier was wounded.

Diyala Province

• On June 3, 2021, a Tribal Mobilization camp was targeted by gunfire in the Miqdadiya region, 40 km northeast of Baqubah. One fighter was wounded.
• On June 1, 2021, mortar shells were fired at the house of an Iraqi government “spy” in the southern Bahraz region, about 2 km southeast of Baqubah.

Counterterrorism in Iraq

Nineveh Province

• On June 2, 2021, the Iraqi army located 20 tons of sulfur, normally used for making explosive charges, in the Badoush Mountain area, northwest of Mosul. According to the Iraqi army, it belonged to ISIS (Al-Hurra, June 2, 2021).

Kirkuk Province

• On June 6, 2021, the Iraqi security forces located an ISIS sleeper cell that had helped ISIS mainly logistically (Al-Sumaria, June 6, 2021).
• On June 3, 2021, the Iraqi security forces in Kirkuk located a network consisting of four ISIS members who used to smuggle operatives (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, June 3, 2021).
• On June 2, 2021, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, operating with the support of the US-led International Coalition, killed eight ISIS operatives south of Kirkuk (shafaq.com, June 2, 2021).

Diyala Province

• On June 6, 2021, the Iraqi army in the Khanaqin rural area located a weapons cache that contained, among other things, mortar shells, rockets and explosives, apparently belonging to ISIS (Al-Sumaria, June 6, 2021).

The Sinai Peninsula

• On June 3, 2021, ISIS carried out a combined attack, during which ISIS operatives infiltrated an Egyptian army camp in the Hamrawi region, south of Sheikh Zuweid. The operatives seized a rifle and an RPG launcher. One soldier was wounded in the exchange of fire. A rescue force arriving at the site was targeted by gunfire, and three additional soldiers were wounded. The following day, the operatives detonated an IED against a patrol setting out to comb the area. Three soldiers were killed or wounded, and a tank was put out of commission. A soldier was killed and two others were wounded by sniper fire. That same day, an IED was activated against a vehicle of a militia loyal to the Egyptian army in the Barth area, south of Rafah. The passengers were killed or wounded.
• Egyptian security sources reported that ISIS operatives had abducted at least five residents of northern Sinai who were on their way to work in Bir al-Abd, in the Al-Salam water project, which was intended to bring water for agricultural purposes from the Nile Delta region. So far, ISIS has not issued any claim of responsibility (AFP, June 8, 2021).
• On June 4, 2021, another Egyptian officer was killed in Sinai: Ahmad Jum’ah, an intelligence officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, was killed in the detonation of an IED in northern Sinai (www.light-dark.net, June 4, 2021). Apparently, the IED was planted by ISIS.