Main events

• The main event was the takeover of the city of Palma by operatives of ISIS’s Central Africa Province. Palma is a coastal city in northern Mozambique, situated near the biggest gas project in Africa, where foreign companies operate. After ISIS operatives held the city for 12 days, the Mozambican security forces managed to retake the city. In Somalia, ISIS operatives repulsed an attack by Somali government forces in the northeast of the country, killing and wounding more than 20 members of the attacking force. In other African countries, ISIS operatives continued to carry out attacks, mainly against military and security forces.
• Syria: In the Idlib region, artillery exchanges continued between the Syrian army and the forces supporting it and the rebel forces. In the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region, ISIS operatives continued to carry out attacks against the Kurdish forces and the Syrian army. One noteworthy attack was the detonation of an IED against a Syrian army convoy near Al-Sukhnah (about 100 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor). The IED blew up a truck carrying explosives, and the soldiers on board were killed or wounded. In the desert region (Al-Badia), ISIS continued its attacks against the Syrian army and the forces supporting it. One noteworthy attack was carried out on April 6, 2021, in the Al-Saan region, about 60 km northeast of the city of Hama. Several people were killed in the attack. ISIS operatives also abducted 11 police officers and nine Syrian civilians. In Al-Hasakah, Syrian security forces detained ISIS operatives who had infiltrated into the Al-Hawl camp.
• Iraq: ISIS’s activity in the past two weeks focused on carrying out attacks against police and army posts in the Kirkuk Province. Attacks were also carried out against the Iraqi security forces in the Diyala and Salah al-Din provinces. In the Al-Anbar Province, ISIS operatives attacked an Iraqi army headquarters south of Rutba. According to ISIS, the headquarters sustained direct hits.
• The Sinai Peninsula: Over the past two weeks, ISIS operatives continued to carry out targeted attacks against the Egyptian security forces, as well as abducting civilians suspected of collaborating with the security forces.
• A video was released in Afghanistan showing a Taliban operative threatening American forces in Afghanistan.

The Syrian arena

• The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that from March 24, 2019, the date of the announcement of victory over ISIS in Syria and Iraq, until March 24, 2021, a total of 1,362 Syrian soldiers and fighters of the forces supporting the Syrian army had been killed in ISIS attacks in Syria (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, March 24, 2021).

The Idlib region

• This week as well, exchanges of artillery fire continued in the region south and southeast of the rebel enclave in Idlib between the rebel forces headed by HTS, and the Syrian army and the forces supporting it.

The Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region

• ISIS operatives continued to carry out attacks in the region, mainly against SDF forces and government officials affiliated with them. Most of the attacks were carried out in and around Diban, about 3 km east of Al-Mayadeen. Following are noteworthy attacks according to ISIS’s claims of responsibility:
  • On April 5, 2021, an SDF roadblock in Diban was targeted by gunfire. Three SDF fighters were killed. On the same day, an IED was activated against a group of SDF fighters, wounding four of them.
  • On April 1, 2021, an IED was activated against an SDF vehicle in Diban, putting it out of commission. No casualties were reported. On that same day, the SDF headquarters in the Tiana region, about 7 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen, was targeted by rockets and gunfire. Several SDF fighters were wounded, and the building was damaged.
  • On March 27, 2021, a local council member in Hajin (about 50 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen) was targeted by gunfire. The council member and his wife, who is also employed in the local council, were wounded. An SDF intelligence operative in Sweidan, about 10 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen, was targeted by gunfire and killed. A fighter of a militia loyal to the Syrian army was targeted by gunfire in Diban and killed.
  • On March 24, 2021, an IED was activated against an SDF vehicle in Diban. The SDF fighters on board were killed or wounded and the vehicle was destroyed.
  • On March 23, 2021, an SDF roadblock between Tiana and Diban, about 5 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen, was targeted by rockets and gunfire. Several SDF fighters were wounded.

The desert region (Al-Badia)

• ISIS operatives continued to carry out attacks against the Syrian army in the region. A noteworthy attack occurred on April 6, 2021, in Al-Saan region, about 60 km northeast of Hama. Several people were killed in an attack carried out by ISIS operatives against the forces of the Syrian regime and their supporters. In addition, ISIS abducted 11 police officers and nine Syrian civilians (apparently, members of militias supporting the Syrian regime). At the same time, about 40 civilians were reported missing in the area. It is unclear whether they were also abducted by ISIS (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 6, 2021).
• Following are other attacks, based on ISIS’s claims of responsibility:
  • On April 2, 2021, an IED was activated against a Syrian army vehicle east of Salamiyah, about 30 km southeast of Hama. The vehicle was destroyed and soldiers on board were killed or wounded.
  • On March 26, 2021, an IED was activated against a Syrian army convoy near Al-Sukhnah, about 100 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor. This resulted in a truck carrying explosives blowing up with the soldiers on board being killed or wounded.

Counterterrorism activity by Russian fighter jets

• On April 3-6, 2021, Russian fighters carried out over 200 airstrikes against ISIS targets in the desert area. About 30 ISIS operatives were killed, and ISIS vehicles, caves and fortified buildings were hit (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, April 6, 2021).

The Al-Raqqah region

• On April 5, 2021, the house of an SDF fighter north of Al-Raqqah was broken into. The fighter and his wife, who works in the militia, were killed.
• On April 2, 2021, several IEDs were activated during the funeral procession of an SDF fighter in the Karameh area, about 20 km southeast of Al-Raqqah. A total of 10 SDF fighters were killed or wounded. Another IED was activated against the car of a mukhtar (head of a neighborhood) affiliated with the SDF in Tabqa. The vehicle was destroyed. No details were reported on the mukhtar’s condition. Apparently, he escaped unscathed.

The Al-Hasakah region

• The Kurdish forces (SDF) reported the arrest of 125 ISIS operatives in the Al-Hawl detention camp (about 35 km southeast of Al-Hasakah), where ISIS families are held. Some of the detainees were involved in the recent murders in the camp. A total of 47 murders were committed in the camp from the beginning of the year. It is estimated that the operatives who were detained infiltrated into the camp on the pretext of looking for a job (Al-Hurra, April 2, 2021). Among the detainees are ISIS commanders, including Abu Saad al-Iraqi, the commander in charge of recruiting operatives (Al-Arabiya, March 29, 2021).

The Iraqi arena

• ISIS continued to carry out attacks mainly against the Iraqi security forces and the militias supporting them. Prominent among the provinces this week was Kirkuk, where ISIS activity mainly consisted of attacks against police and army posts. Attacks were also carried out against the Iraqi security forces in the provinces of Diyala and Salah al-Din. In the Al-Anbar Province, ISIS attacked an Iraqi army headquarters south of Al-Rutba. According to ISIS, it sustained direct hits.

ISIS’s attacks^[1]

Kirkuk Province

• On March 30, 2021, an Iraq army camp south of Daquq, in the southern part of the city of Kirkuk, was targeted by rocket and machine gun fire. Several soldiers were killed.
• On March 29, 2021, an Iraqi police post south of Daquq was targeted by machine gun fire. One soldier was wounded, and a thermal camera was destroyed.
• On March 26, 2021, an IED was activated against a police vehicle in Wadi Zghaitoun, about 50 km southwest of Kirkuk. Passengers on board were wounded and the vehicle was put out of commission.
• On March 24, 2021, an Iraqi army camp west of Tuz Khormato, about 100 km northeast of Samarra, was targeted by machine gun fire. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded.

Salah al-Din Province

• On March 28, 2021, an IED was activated against a Tribal Mobilization vehicle north of Al-Alam, about 10 km north of Tikrit. The passengers were killed or wounded, and the vehicle was put out of commission.
• On March 25, 2021, an IED was activated against a Tribal Mobilization commander in the Tarmiyah region, about 30 km north of Baghdad. He was wounded. Another IED was activated against a rescue force arriving on the scene. Several soldiers were wounded.

Diyala Province

• On April 4, 2021, an IED was activated against a vehicle carrying Shiite civilians on the outskirts of Khales, about 20 km northwest of Baqubah. The vehicle was destroyed and the passengers were killed or wounded.
• On March 26, 2021, an IED was activated against Tribal Mobilization fighters in the Saadiya region, about 60 km northeast of Baqubah. One fighter was killed and three others were wounded.

Counterterrorism measures in Iraq

Coalition support for the Iraqi security forces

• Iraqi Armed Forces Spokesman Yahya Rasoul announced that Iraq had received observation towers from the International Coalition forces, for the Ein al-Assad base (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, March 31, 2021). Tahsin al-Khaftaji, the spokesman for the joint operations headquarters, said that this was the third time in a row that the International Coalition forces provided the Iraqi security forces with military support. As part of this support, the US sent equipment and spare parts for fighter jets. According to Al-Khaftaji, the Coalition support was intended to continue training and preparing the Iraqi security forces to fight against ISIS (Iraqi News Agency, March 31, 2021).

Salah al-Din Province

• In the Salah al-Din Province, the Iraqi security forces arrested the ISIS commander (emir) of the Dijla (Tigris) region. He was only recently appointed after the Iraqi security forces had killed his predecessor in mid-December 2020 (Facebook page of Iraqi Armed Forces Spokesman Yahya Rasoul, April 1, 2021). A few days ago, Iraqi army F-16 fighter jets carried out about 20 airstrikes against ISIS targets in the Hamrin Mountains, about 50 km northwest of Baqubah. Some 40 hiding places used by ISIS were destroyed (Al-Hal Net, March 26, 2021).

Nineveh Province

• The Iraqi security forces carried out a two-week operation against ISIS targets in the Makhmur region, about 70 km southeast of Mosul. They killed 27 ISIS operatives and destroyed over 120 terror targets (Twitter account of Iraqi Armed Forces Spokesman Yahya Rasoul, March 24, 2021; Iraqi News Agency, March 24, 2021).

Al-Anbar Province

• The Iraqi army announced that the Iraqi security forces had foiled an ISIS attack which was supposed to be carried out during Ramadan in Al-Qaim, western Iraq (Al-Hal, April 4, 2021).

The Sinai Peninsula

• ISIS continued to carry out attacks against the Egyptian security forces and operatives supporting them, albeit in a relatively lower scope. On April 5, 2021, ISIS released photos documenting the execution of a fighter of a tribal militia that collaborates with the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula. The fighter was abducted by ISIS in Al-Barth, south of Rafah. According to the photos, he was shot to death (Telegram, April 5, 2021).

    
Right: Fighter of one of the tribal militias who was abducted and executed by ISIS
(Telegram, April 5, 2021). Left: His execution (Telegram, April 5, 2021)

• On April 6, 2021, an Egyptian army bulldozer was targeted by gunfire southwest of Sheikh Zuweid. It went up in flames.
• On April 2, 2021, it was reported that militants (apparently ISIS operatives) had attacked the village of Manjam, in central Sinai. There was an exchange of fire with a local militia, in which several people were killed or wounded. The attackers fled (Shahed Sinaa – al-Rasmia, March 25, 2021).
• On March 27, 2021, two Egyptian bulldozers operating southwest of Sheikh Zuweid were targeted by gunfire and put out of commission (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, April 1, 2021).
• On March 26, 2021, an IED was activated against an Egyptian army armored vehicle west of Bir al-Abd. The passengers on board were killed or wounded (Telegram, April 28, 2021).
• On March 26, 2021, two Egyptian army vehicles were targeted by gunfire southwest of Sheikh Zuweid and put out of commission (Telegram, April 28, 2021). No casualties were reported.
• On March 25, 2021, militants (apparently, ISIS operatives) reportedly abducted 16 members of the Dawaghra tribe in Bir al-Abd, on suspicion of collaboration with the Egyptian army (Shahed Sinaa – al-Rasmia, March 25, 2021).

Summary of ISIS’s activity around the globe

• ISIS posted in its Al-Naba’ weekly two summaries of its activity in the various provinces around the globe between March 17 and 30, 2021:
  • The first infographic summed up ISIS’s activity on March 17-23, 2021. During this period, ISIS operatives carried out 49 attacks in the various provinces in Asia and Africa, compared to 45 in the previous week. The largest number of attacks were carried out in Iraq (17). Attacks carried out in ISIS’s other provinces: West Africa (9); Khorasan, i.e. Afghanistan (9); Syria (8); Sinai (4); and Central Africa (2) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, March 25, 2021). A total of 148 people were killed and wounded in those attacks, compared to 158 in the previous week. The largest number of casualties was in West Africa (70). The other casualties were in the following provinces: Iraq (31); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (19); Syria (17); Sinai (8); and Central Africa (3) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, March 25, 2021).
  • The second infographic summed up ISIS’s activity on March 24-30, 2021. During this period, ISIS operatives carried out 38 attacks in the various provinces in Asia and Africa. The largest number of attacks were carried out in Iraq (12). Attacks carried out in ISIS’s other provinces: Syria (9); West Africa (8); Central Africa (5); Sinai (2); Khorasan, i.e. Afghanistan (1); and Pakistan (1) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, April 1, 2021). According to the infographic, 114 people were killed and wounded in those attacks. The largest number of casualties was in Central Africa (60). The other casualties were in the following provinces: Iraq (21); Syria (19); Central Africa (10); Sinai (3); and Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (1) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, April 1, 2021)

      
The two infographics in ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly (Al-Naba’, Telegram, March 25 and April 1, 2021)

• The data released by ISIS reveals that although most of the attacks are carried out in Iraq, ISIS’s attacks in Africa are more complex and deadlier.