Funeral procession for the fighters killed in the ISIS attack (YouTube, February 4, 2021)

Smoke rising from the site of the explosion south of Deir ez-Zor (@DeirEzzor24 Twitter account, February 3, 2021)

Main events of the past week

• Syria: During the week, the Syrian army and the forces supporting it suffered heavy losses at the hands of ISIS operatives in the desert region (Al-Badia). The climax of the incidents was on the night of February 2-3, 2021, when ISIS attacked Syrian army positions in the area bordering on the Aleppo, Hama and Al-Raqqah provinces, killing 19 Syrian soldiers, including 12 fighters of the Imam al-Baqer Brigade, a local pro-Iranian militia supporting the Syrian regime. Two other attacks were carried out in the area of the Al-Taym oil field, south of Deir ez-Zor. In the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region, ISIS operatives continued to attack Kurdish SDF forces.
• Iraq: The Popular Mobilization forces announced the killing of ISIS’s commander of North Baghdad and Karmah. This is the latest in a series of targeted killings of senior ISIS commanders in Iraq in the past two weeks.
• In the Sinai Peninsula, after a period of relative calm, ISIS operatives ambushed and killed six fighters of the tribal militias that support the Egyptian regime and abducted another fighter.
• Afghanistan: ISIS’s terrorist activity continued. Most of the attacks were carried out in the city of Jalalabad and were directed mainly at Afghan Intelligence and government officials.
• Africa: ISIS’s attacks continued, mainly against Nigerian army forces in the northeast of the country. This week, ISIS’s West Africa Province began trial broadcasts of a new Internet radio channel in the Kanuri language, a dialect spoken in the Lake Chad region (the Nigeria-Niger-Chad tri-border area). In the ITIC’s assessment, ISIS is attempting to expand its influence in Africa to the Lake Chad region through the broadcasts and to recruit operatives to its ranks from among the locals.

The Syrian arena

The Idlib region

The desert region (Al-Badia)

• During the week, ISIS carried out several attacks against the Syrian army and the forces supporting it in the region. They sustained heavy casualties. Apparently, because of the incidents and the heavy casualties suffered by the Syrian army, starting on February 9, 2021, fighters of the Fatemiyoun Brigade and Iraqi Hezbollah (militias handled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards) were deployed at 13 new roadblocks along the road between Deir ez-Zor and Palmyra, instead of the Syrian soldiers, who were evacuated (Khotwa, February 9, 2021). Following are details of the main incidents.
• On February 8, 2021, ISIS operatives ambushed and attacked a Syrian army force operating with the support of the Palestinian Al-Quds Brigade about 50 km southwest of Al-Mayadeen. A total of 26 soldiers and fighters of the Al-Quds Brigade were killed in the exchanges of fire. Eleven ISIS operatives were killed as well (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 8, 2021).
• The Al-Taym oil field area: On February 4, 2021, ISIS operatives attacked Syrian army positions near the Al-Taym oil field, about 10 km south of Deir ez-Zor. There were reports of casualties on both sides (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 4, 2021). On February 6, 2021, ISIS carried out another attack near the oil field. Three operatives belonging to the special units of the Syrian regime and the Syrian Air Force were killed and 16 others were wounded (deirezzor24.net, February 7, 2021).
• The road between Hama and Al-Raqqah: On the night of February 2-3, 2021, ISIS attacked Syrian army positions in the area bordering on the Aleppo, Hama and Al-Raqqah provinces (about 35 km east of Ithriya, on the road between Hama and Al-Raqqah). A total of 19 Syrian soldiers and fighters of the forces supporting them were reportedly killed in the incident, including 12 fighters of the Imam Al-Baqer Brigade, a local pro-Iranian militia supporting the Syrian regime (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 3, 2021; Enab Baladi, February 3, 2021). ISIS reported that its operatives had fired machine guns at a Syrian army position in the Ithriya area, east of Salamiyah. There were exchanges of fire. According to ISIS, 13 Syrian soldiers were killed and several others were wounded. In addition, the ISIS operatives set fire to a Syrian army vehicle equipped with a heavy machine gun. All operatives reportedly returned to their base unscathed.^[1]

• The following day, a funeral procession for the fighters was held in Aleppo (YouTube, February 4, 2021). Later, ISIS released a video showing charred bodies in a desert region, noting that they were Syrian soldiers killed in an attack (Telegram, February 5, 2021).

Russian Air Force attacks against ISIS targets in Al-Badia

• According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, on February 4-5, 2021, there were about 100 Russian airstrikes against ISIS targets in the desert region of the Hama Province (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, February 5, 2021).

The Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region

• In the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region, ISIS continued its attacks against Syrian soldiers and the SDF forces. A noteworthy incident occurred on February 3, 2021: a car bomb apparently exploded about 10 km southwest of Deir ez-Zor. Ten Syrian soldiers and fighters of the Al-Quds Brigade (a Palestinian militia supporting the Syrian army) were killed and several other soldiers were wounded (@DeirEzzor24 Twitter account, February 3, 2021). No one claimed responsibility for the explosion and it is unclear who was behind it. It cannot be ruled out that ISIS was responsible for it.
• Following are other noteworthy incidents:^[2]
  • On February 8, 2021, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire in the Basira area, about 30 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor. He was killed. In addition, an SDF fighter was targeted by machine gun fire in the village of Shahil, about 35 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor. A day earlier, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire in the village of Shahabat, in the eastern rural area of Deir ez-Zor. He was killed.
  • On February 6, 2021, an SDF vehicle was targeted by machine gun fire in Shahil, about 10 km north of Al-Mayadeen. One SDF fighter was killed and another was wounded.
  • On February 6, 2021, ISIS operatives captured an SDF intelligence operative in the Basira area, about 15 km north of Al-Mayadeen. He was interrogated and then executed.
  • On February 3, 2021, an SDF intelligence operative was targeted by gunfire in the Diban area, about 5 km east of Al-Mayadeen. He was killed.

Al-Raqqah region

• On February 8, 2021, ISIS operatives attacked an SDF roadblock about 25 km northwest of Al-Raqqah. Four SDF fighters were killed and two others were severely wounded. The ISIS operatives seized five machine guns and a motorcycle and set fire to four other motorcycles.

 The Iraqi arena

ISIS’s commander of North Baghdad and Karmah killed

• The Popular Mobilization forces announced that two ISIS operatives had been killed in exchanges of fire in the Karmah region, about 15 km northeast of Fallujah (Al-Anbar Province). One of the operatives killed was Muhannad Ahmad Habib, ISIS’s commander of North Baghdad and Karmah (the Popular Mobilization website, February 4, 2021).

• Muhannad Ahmad Habib is the latest in a series of senior ISIS commanders killed recently by the Iraqi security forces. The most senior commander among those killed was Abu Yasser al-Issawi, ISIS’s deputy leader and governor of the Iraq Province, killed on January 28, 2021.
• In addition to the killing of ISIS’s senior commander, the Iraqi security forces continued their counterterrorism activities this week throughout Iraq. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of the United States Central Command, noted in a Middle East Institute (MEI) virtual event that in the war against ISIS last year, the Iraqi security forces had taken several significant steps, allowing the United States to reduce the scope of its forces in Iraq and pull out its troops and the International Coalition troops from many military bases, where Iraqi forces are currently deployed (US CENTCOM website, February 8, 2021). Following are details on the counterterrorism activities of the Iraqi security forces and the forces supporting them.

Nineveh Province

• On February 8, 2021, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced that the Nineveh Province Intelligence Directorate and Counterterrorism Unit had detained 15 people suspected of affiliation with ISIS in various regions throughout the province (Al-Sumaria, February 8, 2021).

Baghdad Province

• On February 7, 2021, the Iraqi security forces detained 13 suspected ISIS operatives in the province (Al-Sumaria, February 7, 2021).

Al-Anbar Province

• On February 9, 2021, the Iraqi security forces detained 24 wanted ISIS operatives in the Fallujah area and in various other areas around the province (Al-Sumaria, February 9, 2021).
• On February 5, 2021, the Iraqi army located an ISIS hiding place, with ISIS equipment, in the Al-Qaim region, in western Iraq (Al-Sumaria, February 5, 2021).

Diyala Province

• On February 3, 2021, the Popular Mobilization forces announced that they had destroyed ISIS’s guesthouses and tunnels in eastern Diyala. They also neutralized IEDs found there (Al-Sumaria, February 3, 2021).

Erbil Province

• On February 3, 2021, a senior Peshmerga official said that International Coalition aircraft had attacked several ISIS targets in the rural area southwest of Erbil (www.kurdistan24.net, February 3, 2021).

ISIS threatens Iraqi tribes through the Telegram app

• According to Iraqi security and tribal sources, in recent days, ISIS sent threats to tribespeople in western and northern Iraq through the Telegram app. Some of the tribespeople even received threatening phone calls and warning messages. ISIS threatens that it will take revenge on tribespeople who collaborate with the Iraqi regime. The threatened tribespeople turned to the Iraqi security forces for assistance (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, February 6, 2021).

ISIS’s attacks in the various provinces in Iraq^[3]

Diyala Province

• On February 4, 2021, ISIS operatives attacked an Iraqi army force west of Khanaqin. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded. An Iraqi military source confirmed the news item on the incident, noting that the Iraqi soldiers repelled an attack against their positions in the area; one soldier was killed in the fighting, and two others were wounded (Al-Sumaria, February 4, 2021).
• On February 3, 2021, an IED was activated against a Popular Mobilization vehicle northeast of Naft Khana, about 20 km south of Khanaqin. Four fighters were killed or wounded.

Salah al-Din Province

• On February 4, 2021, ISIS operatives fired machine guns at an Iraqi soldier in the Mashahada area, about 30 km north of Baghdad. The soldier was wounded.
• On February 2, 2021, ISIS operatives fired machine guns and RPG rockets at an Iraqi army position west of Tuz Khormato, about 100 km northeast of Samarra. Two soldiers were killed and another was wounded.

Al-Anbar Province

• On February 6, 2021, ISIS operatives fired machine guns at an Iraqi army force that tried to ambush them about 20 km south of Fallujah. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded.
• On February 2, 2021, ISIS operatives fired machine guns at a Popular Mobilization camp in the Karmah region, about 20 km northeast of Fallujah. A Popular Mobilization fighter was killed and another was wounded.

Kirkuk Province

• On February 5, 2021, ISIS operatives fired at an Iraqi police camp about 30 km south of Kirkuk. One policeman was killed and three others were wounded