Main events of the week

• In the Idlib region, clashes continued between the Syrian army and the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham mainly in the areas southwest and south of Idlib.
• ISIS continued its routine activity in the various provinces around the world. Last week, noteworthy activity took place in the following provinces:
  • Iraqi Province: ISIS operatives killed a senior Iraqi officer with the rank of colonel (aqid) during a chase. This is the third time in about a month that ISIS has managed to kill senior Iraqi army officers during operational activity. Their killing is a blow to the Iraqi army’s morale and further evidence of ISIS’s improved military capabilities in the Iraqi arena.
  • Sinai Province: The Sinai Province continues to wage war against the Egyptian army in villages in the Rabi’a region, over a month after the showcase attack against the army camp near Rabi’a. ISIS operatives also continue to carry out guerrilla activity against the Egyptian army in other regions in northern Sinai (exchanges of fire and the activation of an IED in Sheikh Zuweid).
  • Yemen Province: According to several reports (requiring verification), ISIS leader (emir) in Yemen was ambushed and killed by the Houthi rebels this week. Dozens of operatives were also captured, including ISIS’s commander in the Qifah region, the epicenter of ISIS’s activity in Yemen. If these reports are verified, it will be a severe blow to ISIS’s Yemen Province, which has recently stepped up its activity, and an important achievement for the Iran-sponsored Houthi rebels.
  • Afghanistan: This week, ISIS operatives fired about 16 rockets at a compound in the city of Kabul, where the Presidential Palace, government offices and Western embassies are located. The rockets were fired while an official ceremony was being held at the compound to mark the country’s 101st Independence Day. This is a continuation of the intensive activity that ISIS is carrying out in Afghanistan, mainly against Afghan government and US army targets.

ISIS’s activity in the various provinces around the world

Summary of ISIS activity this week

• On August 20, 2020, ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly published an infographic entitled “The Harvest of the Fighters,” summarizing ISIS’s activity on August 13-19, 2020. According to the infographic, during this period ISIS carried out 62 attacks around the world, compared to 49 in the previous week (i.e., an increase of about 21% in the scope of the attacks). A total of 20 attacks were carried out in Iraq, 10 of them in the Diyala Province. Attacks were also carried out in ISIS’s other provinces in Africa and Asia: Syria (13); Yemen (10); West Africa (8); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (5); the Sinai Peninsula (4); and East Asia (2) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, August 20, 2020).
• Over 233 people were killed and wounded in these attacks, compared to over 163 people in the previous week (i.e., an increase of about 30% in the number of casualties). The largest number of casualties (130) was in Yemen. The other casualties were in the following provinces: West Africa (mainly Nigeria) (35); Iraq (28); Syria (21); East Asia (7); the Sinai Peninsula (6); and Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (6) (Telegram, August 20, 2020).

The UN: There are at least 10,000 ISIS operatives in Syria and Iraq

• According to Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov, two years after the announcement on the elimination of ISIS, there are at least 10,000 ISIS operatives in Syria and Iraq. According to his report, in the recent year there has been an increase in ISIS’s activity (UN website, August 25, 2020; The Telegraph, August 25, 2020).

The Syrian arena

The Idlib region

In the Idlib region, incidents between the Syrian army and the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham and the other rebel organizations also continued this week. As in previous weeks, most of the incidents took place in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib, and in other areas south and southwest of Idlib.

Main incidents

• On August 20-24, 2020, there were exchanges of artillery fire between the Syrian army and the forces supporting it and the rebel organizations, mainly the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham, in the region south and southwest of Idlib. There were several casualties.
• On August 22, 2020, operatives of the Obvious Victory operations room controlled by the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham fired an antitank missile at a squad of the forces supporting the Syrian army about 40 km southwest of Idlib. All the squad members were killed or wounded (Ibaa, August 23, 2020; Edlib Media Center – Edlib Media Center – EMC, August 22, 2020).

ISIS activity in the Syria Province^[1]

The area of Deir ez-Zor, Al-Mayadeen, and Albukamal

• On August 23, 2020, a motorcycle bomb was activated by remote control against the car of Subhi Mohammad al-Karhut, head of the Hajin local council (about 25 km north of Albukamal) (Al-Etihad Press^[2], August 24, 2020). According to an ISIS report, a parked motorcycle bomb was activated against the head of the local council, who was severely wounded.
• On August 22, 2020, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire about 10 km northeast of Deir ez-Zor. He was killed.
• On August 22, 2020, an SDF commune head was targeted by machine gun fire about 10 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen. He was killed.
• On August 20, 2020, two SDF fighters were targeted by machine gun fire about 10 km north of Al-Mayadeen. One fighter was killed and the other wounded.
• On August 19, 2020, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire about 45 km south of Al-Mayadeen. He was killed.
• On August 19, 2020, an IED was activated against SDF forces about 10 km north of Al-Mayadeen. Several fighters were wounded.

Senior Russian officer killed in attack against a Russian army convoy (update^[3])

• Three days after the activation of the IED (or mine) near Deir ez-Zor, a local media outlet released a video documenting the incident in which a senior Russian officer with the rank of major general was killed (Deir ez-Zor 24 Twitter account, August 21, 2020). A conversation in Russian can be heard in the background. After the explosion, one of the speakers calls out the name of Mohammad Taysir (commander of the Al-Mayadeen sector in the Homeland Defense Forces, who was also killed in that incident).

  
Right: Senior Russian officer Vyacheslav Gladkih (apparently in the red circle) near Deir ez-Zor a short while before the explosion of the IED (or mine)
(Deir ez-Zor 24 Twitter account, August 21, 2020)

Al-Sukhnah-Palmyra region (the Syrian Desert)

• On August 22, 2020, Syrian soldiers were targeted by machine gun fire northwest of Al-Sukhnah. An officer was killed and several soldiers were wounded (Telegram, August 24, 2020).
• On August 18, 2020, two tankers carrying oil for the Syrian regime were targeted by machine gun fire and went up in flames northwest of Al-Sukhnah (no specific location was mentioned). The tankers belonged to Al-Qaterji, a Syrian MP and commander in the Homeland Defense Forces.

Al-Raqqah region

• On August 19, 2020, a tanker carrying oil for the Syrian regime was targeted by machine gun fire and was hit about 10 km northwest of Al-Raqqah. It belonged to Al-Qaterji, a Syrian MP and commander in the Homeland Defense Forces.
• On August 19, 2020 (or a few days earlier), ISIS operatives killed two men operating alongside the Russian army near the village of Al-Rasafah, about 40 km southwest of Al-Raqqah.

Al-Hasakah region

• On August 20, 2020, an IED was activated against an SDF vehicle on the Al-Shadadi road (south of Al-Hasakah). One fighter was killed and another was wounded.

Southern Syria

• On August 18, 2020, Rami Khatib (a media figure from Daraa who operated from southern Syria while it was under rebel control) was targeted by machine gun fire and killed. According to ISIS, he was killed because he desecrated the name of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

• On August 18, 2020, Hassan Ruwidan, a commander in a force supporting the Syrian army, was targeted by machine gun fire about 30 km northeast of Daraa. He was wounded and one of his escorts was killed.

The Iraqi arena^[4]

ISIS’s attacks

Salah al-Din Province

Iraqi SWAT commander killed

• On August 21, 2020, during a chase after ISIS operatives in the Makhoul Mountains (about 15 km east of Baiji), ISIS operatives killed Hisham Mohammad, a senior Iraqi officer with the rank of aqid (colonel). He was the commander of a fawj (a military framework consisting of several battalions) in the Iraqi counterterrorism unit of the Salah al-Din Province (Al-Sumaria, August 21, 2020). ISIS claimed responsibility for killing the senior officer. According to ISIS’s report, an IED was activated against forces of the Iraqi counterterrorism unit east of Baiji. As a result, a senior officer, a fawj commander, was killed, as well as some of his escorts. Other soldiers were wounded (Telegram, August 22, 2020).

    
Right: Aqid (Col.) Hisham Mohammad, commander in the counterterrorism unit, killed by ISIS (@isof_iq official Twitter account of the Special Operations Headquarters in the Golden Division, August 21, 2020). Left: Another photo of Aqid Hisham Mohammad (YouTube, August 21, 2020)

Other ISIS attacks in the Salah al-Din Province

• On August 20, 2020, ISIS operatives activated an IED at the house of a mukhtar about 20 km southeast of Samarra. The house was destroyed.
• On August 19, 2020, ISIS operatives fired machine guns at an Iraqi police compound about 50 km north of Baghdad. ISIS operatives ambushed, fired machine guns and activated an IED against a Popular Mobilization force arriving at the scene to provide assistance. A total of 15 fighters were killed and wounded, and two vehicles were destroyed. In addition, weapons and ammunition were seized.

Diyala Province

• On August 24, 2020, Iraqi soldiers were targeted by sniper fire on the outskirts of Al-Miqdadiya, about 40 km northeast of Baqubah. Two soldiers were killed.
• On August 24, 2020, Iraqi soldiers were targeted by sniper fire about 60 km north of Baqubah. Two soldiers were killed.
• On August 21, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 35 km northeast of Baqubah. One soldier was killed and three others were wounded.
• On August 18, 2020, Iraqi policemen were targeted by sniper fire about 20 km northeast of Baqubah. Three policemen were wounded.

Nineveh Province

• On August 20, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 20 km south of Mosul. Three soldiers were killed and another was wounded.
• On August 20, 2020, an IED was activated against a vehicle of a mukhtar 35 km south of Mosul. The mukhtar and his escort were wounded.
• On August 18, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 90 km southwest of Mosul. The passengers were killed or wounded.
• On August 17, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 35 km south of Mosul. The passengers were wounded.

Al-Anbar Province

• On August 25, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 120 km west of Ramadi. The passengers were killed or wounded.
• On August 24, 2020, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 130 km northeast of the border between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The passengers were killed or wounded.

Babel Province

• On August 25, 2020, a Popular Mobilization fighter was targeted by sniper fire about 40 km southwest of Baghdad. He was killed.
• On August 23, 2020, Popular Mobilization fighters were targeted by sniper fire about 40 km southwest of Baghdad. One fighter was killed and two others were wounded.
• On August 19, 2020, an IED was activated against a Popular Mobilization vehicle about 35 km southwest of Baghdad. Four passengers were killed or wounded.

Kirkuk Province

• On August 24, 2020, ISIS operatives raided two compounds of the Iraqi federal police about 30 km south of Kirkuk. Four soldiers were killed and four others were wounded.
• On August 23, 2020, an IED was activated against a Shiite procession in the southeastern part of Kirkuk. Seven Shiites were killed or wounded.

Counterterrorist activities by the Iraqi security forces

Al-Anbar Province

• On August 22, 2020, Iraqi Military Intelligence Directorate teams apprehended several families of ISIS operatives crossing the border from Syria to Iraq in the Al-Qaim area, near the Iraqi-Syrian border (Facebook page of the Iraqi Defense Ministry, August 22, 2020).
• On August 22, 2020, a force of the Al-Jazeera Operations Headquarters located an ISIS weapons depot in the Al-Qaim district, near the Iraqi-Syrian border. It consisted of IEDs and various explosives (Facebook page of the Iraqi Defense Ministry, August 22, 2020).

Nineveh Province

• On August 24, 2020, the Iraqi security forces apprehended five wanted ISIS operatives in various areas in the Nineveh Province. Under interrogation, the five men admitted having taken part in attacks against the Iraqi security forces and civilians. Following their interrogation, two ISIS hiding places were found in deserted buildings about 40 km east of the Iraqi-Syrian border (Al-Sumaria, August 24, 2020).

The Sinai Peninsula