Published: 14/10/2021

• Afghanistan: ISIS operatives continued to carry out attacks against the Taliban forces and Shiite civilians. A major incident was an attack carried out by a suicide bomber in a mosque of the Hazara, a Shiite minority, in the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. About 50 people were killed and dozens were wounded. Sources in the Taliban noted that over 100 people had been killed in the attack and over 140 had been wounded. Al-Battar, a media foundation that supports ISIS, issued a statement entitled “From the Khorasan Province to Washington,” threatening to expand jihadi activity from Afghanistan to Europe and the United States.
• Syria: In general, there has been a decrease in ISIS attacks. In the Idlib region, fighting continued between the Syrian army and the rebel forces, while Russian planes continued to carry out airstrikes against targets in the rebel enclave. In the desert region (Al-Badia), Russian planes carried out airstrikes against ISIS targets. At least 17 ISIS operatives were killed and many more were wounded. For the first time in many months, there have been no reports about ISIS attacks.
• Iraq: Despite this week’s elections, ISIS was relatively inactive (two attacks were carried out against polling stations). Iraqi authorities have announced the arrest of Sami Jassem, ISIS’s official in charge of finances who had been deputy to former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This is a major achievement for the Iraqi security forces in the war against ISIS and a blow to ISIS at the morale and operative level.
• The Sinai Peninsula: Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi issued a presidential decree (the first of its kind) authorizing the defense minister to impose a series of special measures on the entire Sinai Peninsula and not just the northeast, which is the area where the campaign against ISIS operatives is taking place. According to an article in Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula has been relatively calm of late, and in the past three months there have been only a very few incidents, indicating a significant decline in the ISIS’s activity and possibly a temporary freeze. According to Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an expert on jihadi organizations, the Sinai Province has decreased its activity to protect itself from total decline. However, he makes it clear that ISIS is still alive, constituting a source of danger.
• Africa: The West Africa and Central Africa provinces continued their terrorist activity, although there was a slight decrease in its volume:
  • Nigeria: Noteworthy attacks this week were attacks against Christian civilians. Among other things, an attack against a Christian town and the abduction of a Red Cross worker.
  • Uganda: For the first time, ISIS’s Central Africa Province claimed responsibility for an attack carried out by its operatives in the capital Kampala.
• The battle for hearts and minds: The feature article in Al-Naba’ weekly was devoted to the parliamentary elections in Iraq and the fact that democracy is in complete contradiction to Islamic law (Sharia).

Afghanistan

Attack on a Shiite mosque in Kunduz

• Dozens of Shiite worshipers were killed and wounded in a terrorist attack carried out by a suicide bomber in a Shiite mosque in the city of Kunduz, north of Kabul, near the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border (AP, October 8, 2021). According to Taliban sources, over a hundred people were killed in the attack and over 143 were wounded. ISIS’s Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack. According to ISIS, the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who managed to infiltrate into a place of worship of the Hazara Shiite sect, where he blew up his explosive vest. According to ISIS, about 300 people were killed or wounded and the building, which is the largest house of worship of the Hazara in the region, was destroyed. ISIS further noted that the suicide bomber, whose codename is Mohammad al-Ayghuri (i.e., the Uyghur), was an Uyghur (a Muslim from Turkestan / Xinjiang in China), whom the Taliban promised to expel in compliance with the Chinese government’s request (Telegram, October 8, 2021).

• This is one of the most prominent attacks carried out by ISIS’s Khorasan Province in Afghanistan, as part of a series of attacks against Taliban and Shiite targets carried out by ISIS in Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of the country and the United States evacuated its forces. The police deputy commander declared that the Taliban is poised to safeguard the security of the Shiites.
• Following are other prominent attacks carried out by ISIS in Afghanistan (according to ISIS’s claims of responsibility on Telegram):
  • On October 12, 2021, a person loyal to the previous Afghan government was targeted by gunfire while in his car, in Jalalabad.
  • On October 9, 2021, two Taliban members were targeted by gunfire in Jalalabad. The two were killed and their weapons were seized.
  • On October 8, 2021, a Taliban intelligence operative was abducted in Jalalabad and later executed. On October 6, 2021, another Taliban member was abducted in the city. He was also executed.
  • On October 8, 2021, an IED was activated against the vehicle of a Taliban commander in the Jabrahar region, Nangarhar Province, on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. He was killed and three of his escorts were wounded.
  • On October 7, 2021, an IED was activated against a foot patrol of the Taliban forces in the Khogyani region, about 90 km southeast of Kabul. One Taliban member was killed and another was wounded.
  • On October 5, 2021, an IED was activated against the vehicle of a Taliban official in the Kama region, in Nangarhar. Three Taliban members were killed and four others were wounded, including the official in charge of the region.

Threat to carry out attacks in the US and Europe

•  The Al-Battar Foundation, which is an ISIS-affiliated media outlet, published a statement entitled “From the Khorasan Province to Washington.” It threatens to expand jihad activity from Afghanistan to Europe and the United States. The statement addresses the “leaders of Jewish infidels and slaves of the Cross, America and its allies,” who have thought that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban will replace them in Afghanistan, but they will face attacks in their own countries, originating from Afghanistan (Telegram, October 11, 2021).

The Syrian arena

• This week, for the first time in many months, there have been no reports about ISIS attacks.

The Idlib region

• Exchanges of artillery fire continued between the Syrian army and the forces supporting it, and the rebel forces in the rebel enclave in Idlib. On October 7, 2021, the Russian Air Force resumed its activity and carried out airstrikes in the western part of Idlib (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, October 7, 2021).

The desert region (Al-Badia)

• Since early October 2021, Russian fighter jets carried out over 300 airstrikes against ISIS targets in the desert region. At least 17 ISIS operatives were reportedly killed and 27 others were wounded (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, October 12, 2021).

The Iraqi arena

• The Iraqi army spokesman announced that the United States had begun to evacuate its forces from Iraq and that the evacuation process would be completed by December 31, 2021. As part of the July 2021 agreement between the US and Iraq, all the American fighting forces will leave the country, and only advisors, training staffs and combat service support will remain in Iraq (Al-Sumaria, October 7, 2021).

Attacks by province^[1]

Kirkuk Province

• On October 11, 2021, an Iraqi police outpost was targeted by gunfire in the Riyad region, about 50 km southwest of Kirkuk. Two policemen were wounded and a thermal camera was destroyed. Several days before (October 6, 2021), an IED was activated there against an Iraqi police armored vehicle and passengers on board were wounded.
• On October 10, 2021, a parliamentary election center was targeted by gunfire in southern Daquq, in the southern region of Kirkuk. A police officer and two policemen were killed, and three others were wounded.

Al-Anbar Province

• On October 9, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army foot patrol in the Kabisa Desert, about 60 km northwest of Ramadi. One soldier was killed.
• On October 6, 2021, an Iraqi soldier was targeted by gunfire west of Al-Rutba, in western Iraq.
• On October 5, 2021, two intelligence operatives were abducted in the Akashat region, near the Iraqi-Syrian border, east of Al-Qaim. They were interrogated and then executed.

Diyala Province

• On October 10, 2021, a Tribal Mobilization camp was targeted by gunfire east of Al-Miqdadiya, about 40 km northeast of Baqubah. One fighter was killed and two others were wounded.
• On October 6, 2021, an Iraqi army patrol was ambushed and fired at north of Al-Azim, about 60 km north of Baqubah. One soldier was killed and two others were wounded.

Salah al-Din Province

• On October 10, 2021, a rocket was fired at a polling center (for the Iraqi parliamentary elections) in the city of Baiji. According to ISIS, definite hits were detected.

Counterterrorism measures in Iraq

The security forces arrest ISIS’s official in charge of finances

• Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that the Iraqi security forces had arrested Sami Jassem, ISIS’s official in charge of finances, “outside Iraqi borders,” apparently on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Al-Kadhimi noted that Jassem had been the deputy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS’s former leader (Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s Twitter account, October 11, 2021). This is a major achievement of the Iraqi security forces in their war against ISIS and a major blow to ISIS’s morale and its operative capabilities (for further details, see the ITIC’s publication on this issue).

Salah al-Din Province

• The Iraqi security forces killed two ISIS operatives in the Tarmiyah region. One of the operatives had reportedly planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack in Baghdad (Popular Mobilization website, September 29, 2021). The day before, the Iraqi security forces killed an ISIS commander near Samarra (Facebook page of Iraqi Armed Forces Spokesman Yahya Rasoul, September 28, 2021).

The Sinai Peninsula

ISIS activity

• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a presidential decree (the first of its kind) authorizing Defense Minister Mohamed Ahmed Zaki Mohamed to enforce a series of special measures on the entire Sinai Peninsula at any time, and not just on the northeast, where the campaign against ISIS is being waged and where ISIS holds territories which the army has no control of. The decree renders the entire Sinai Peninsula an official military zone. In practice, the Egyptian Defense Ministry has become the supreme commander of this territory, having powers overshadowing those of the prime minister and the governors (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, October 7, 2021).
• According to an article published in Al-Araby al-Jadeed, recently there has been relative security calm in the Sinai Peninsula, after eight years of fighting between ISIS’s Sinai Province and the Egyptian security forces. According to the article, over the past three months, only a few incidents have been recorded, indicating a significant decrease in ISIS’s activity and maybe even a temporary freeze of the organization’s activity. According to sources on the ground, ISIS’s operatives are not to be seen in most of northern and central Sinai, indicating a withdrawal or the end of ISIS’s presence in the region. Tribal sources operating alongside the Egyptian security forces noted that many operatives had turned themselves in to the security forces and others had fled. In addition, ISIS’s Sinai branch has had fatalities and also has suffered from lack of logistics and finance. Based on the current situation, the Egyptian army has reportedly allowed dozens of civilians to return to their homes.
• Hassan Abu Haniyeh, an expert on jihadi organizations, notes that ISIS’s Sinai Province has decreased its activity in order to protect itself from total decline. However, he makes it clear that the organization is still alive, constituting a source of danger (Al-Araby al-Jadeed, October 9, 2021).