• Syria: In the Idlib region, exchanges of fire continued between the Syrian army and the rebels. In one incident (July 3, 2021), eight people were killed by Syrian army gunfire. The fatalities included six children and one woman. In the Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region: ISIS’s attacks against the SDF fighters continued. In the Al-Raqqah region: ISIS operatives attacked three oil tankers of the Al-Qaterji company (which supplies oil to the Syrian regime). The tankers were put out of commission and their drivers were killed.
• Iraq: This week as well, ISIS operated in the various provinces in Iraq, but there has been a decrease in the number of attacks. Many attacks were directed against infrastructure as part of what ISIS calls its economic war. The Iraqi security forces set up a joint operations room to protect the country’s electricity infrastructure. The new operations room has thwarted a number of attempts by ISIS to damage the electricity infrastructure.
• The Sinai Peninsula: According to Gazan sources, a Palestinian from Rafah who joined ISIS several years ago was killed in an exchange of fire with Egyptian soldiers in the Bir al-Abd region.
• Africa: ISIS’s activity focused mainly on military forces in the various countries. ISIS’s West Africa Province (belatedly) claimed responsibility for carrying out a combined attack on a Cameroonian army camp and an aid force that arrived at the scene, killing a total of 26 soldiers. In Mali, the Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wa al Muslimeen organization, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda and operates in the Sahel region, claimed responsibility for carrying out three attacks against the international forces in Mali.
• Afghanistan: There was a decrease in ISIS’s activity this week.
• In Russia, security forces thwarted a double attack in Moscow and Astrakhan.
• The battle for hearts and minds: This week, the main article in ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly dealt with ISIS’s activity in Africa. The article, entitled “Our Unity and their Disunity in Africa,” praises the spread of ISIS among the residents of Africa. It also deals with the fears of the West and especially France of the spread of ISIS and the division and disunity among their allies on the continent.

The Idlib region

• This week, exchanges of fire continued between the Syrian army and the rebels in the enclave in the Idlib region. According to local reports, eight people, including six children and one woman, were killed by Syrian army fire on July 3, 2021, in the southern region of Idlib. Russian fighter jets attacked rebel targets in west Idlib (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, July 3, 2021).

Deir ez-Zor-Al-Mayadeen region^[1]

• On July 4, 2021, an SDF fighter was targeted by gunfire at a roadblock about 25 km southeast of Al-Mayadeen. He was killed.
• On July 3, 2021, an SDF roadblock was targeted by gunfire in the Diban region, about 3 km east of Al-Mayadeen. Two SDF fighters were killed.

Al-Hasakah region

• On July 2, 2021, an SDF force detained an ISIS operative east of Shadadi, about 50 km south of Al-Hasakah. His interrogation revealed that he had specialized in making explosive devices and transferring them to ISIS cells in the region. The fighters also seized his equipment and tools (ANHA, July 2, 2021).

Al-Raqqah region

• On June 30, 2021, ISIS operatives fired at three oil tankers of the Al-Qaterji company (which supplies oil to the Syrian regime) east of Al-Raqqah. Two of the tanker drivers were killed and the tankers were put out of commission..

• This week as well, ISIS operated in the various provinces of Iraq, but a decrease is evident in the number of attacks. Many attacks targeted Iraqi infrastructure as part of ISIS’s “economic war.” To deal with such attacks, the Iraqi security forces set up a joint operations room, which has already thwarted several ISIS attempts to sabotage the electricity infrastructure. Following are attacks by province, mainly according to ISIS’s claims of responsibility^[2]:

Kirkuk Province

• A rocket was fired at one of the sites of the Al-Shemal gas company, about 20 km west of Kirkuk. According to ISIS, a definite hit was identified (Telegram, July 6, 2021). An Iraqi security source confirmed this, but noted that the rocket had landed in an open area close to abandoned equipment and there were no casualties or damage (Ur News Agency, July 6, 2021).

Al-Anbar Province (western Iraq)

• On July 6, 2021, two Iraqi soldiers were targeted by gunfire on the international highway near Al-Rutba. They were both killed.
• On July 5, 2021, an Iraqi army camp east of Al-Rutba was targeted by gunfire. Several soldiers were killed or wounded. A rescue force and helicopters arriving at the site were fired at and left the area (Telegram, July 6, 2021).
• On July 5, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army convoy in the Kabisa region, about 60 km northwest of Ramadi. The passengers of a vehicle which was hit were killed or wounded.
• On July 5, 2021, an IED was activated against a Popular Mobilization vehicle which was targeted by gunfire on the Akashat-Al-Qaim road. A passenger on board the vehicle was killed. An IED was activated against a rescue force arriving on the scene. Two fighters of the rescue force were wounded.
• On July 4, 2021, an Iraqi army camp was targeted by gunfire on the Hit-Kabisa road. The camp soldiers were reportedly killed or wounded (Telegram, July 4, 2021).
• On July 3, 2021, an Iraqi army camp east of Al-Rutba was targeted by gunfire. Several soldiers were killed or wounded. On the same day, an IED was activated against two Iraqi soldiers east of Al-Rutba. They were both killed. A rescue force arriving on the scene was targeted by gunfire and an Iraqi military intelligence commander was killed.
• On July 3, 2021, mortar shells were fired at an Iraqi army camp on the international highway near Al-Rutba. According ISIS, definite hits were identified, but no casualties were reported.
• On July 2, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle on the Akashat-Al-Qaim road. All the passengers were killed. ISIS operatives also fired at a rescue force arriving on the scene and it retreated.
• On July 2, 2021, ISIS operatives surrounded a group of fishermen who were having a party near Haditha Lake. They killed four of them and wounded several others (Al-Anbar Channel, July 3, 2021; Al-Arabiya, July 3, 2021).
• On July 1, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle west of Al-Rutba. All the passengers were killed or wounded.
• On June 30, 2021, mortar shells were fired at an Iraqi army camp on the international highway east of Al-Rutba. According to ISIS, definite hits were identified.

Salah al-Din Province

• On July 5, 2021, an IED was activated against an Iraqi army vehicle about 50 km northwest of Baiji. The three passengers on board the vehicle were killed.

Diyala Province

• On July 5, 2021, ISIS operatives abducted a “collaborator” (i.e., a spy) in the Nada region, in the eastern Diyala Province. He was interrogated and then executed and his weapon was seized.
• On July 4, 2021, Tribal Mobilization fighters were ambushed and fired at northwest of Jalula, about 75 km northeast of Baqubah. Five fighters were killed and five others were wounded. ISIS operatives set fire to a vehicle and seized weapons and ammunition.
• On July 4, 2021, ISIS operatives abducted two residents in the Jalula region. The two were held in the neighboring Shiite town of Qarah Tapa. Family members who arrived and attempted to have their relatives released were attacked by ISIS’s operatives. The Iraqi police spokesman in the province reported that five civilians were killed (Rudaw, July 5, 2021).

Erbil Province

• On July 3, 2021, an Iraqi army camp was targeted by gunfire southeast of Makhmur, about 70 km southeast of Mosul. Three soldiers were killed. An IED was activated against a rescue force arriving on the scene, and three of the force fighters were wounded.
• On June 30, 2021, an Iraqi army camp was targeted by gunfire southeast of Makhmur, about 60 km southwest of Erbil. One soldier was killed and another was wounded.

Nineveh Province

• On July 2, 2021, a security source reported that IEDs were activated (apparently by ISIS operatives) against two power supply lines south of Mosul (Al-Sumaria, July 2, 2021).

Counterterrorism measures in Iraq

• The Iraqi security forces try to cope with the wave of attacks, which has recently increased, against the electricity infrastructure in Iraq, as part of ISIS’s “economic war.” According to Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, so far, ISIS has hit about 45 high-voltage pylons (Iraqi News Agency, July 5, 2021).
• A joint operations room was reportedly set up, comprising the Iraqi army, Iraqi police, the Popular Mobilization forces and the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity (Al-Sumaria, July 2, 2021). This week, after the operations room was set up, it was reported that several ISIS attempts to attack Iraqi electricity infrastructure were successfully thwarted. In the Salah al-Din Province, an attempt to detonate an IED against a high-voltage pylon in the Baiji region was thwarted (Al-Sumaria, July 2, 2021). The Iraqi security forces deactivated an IED and an explosive belt which were supposed to explode near a high-voltage pylon in the Tikrit region (Al-Sumaria, July 2, 2021). Also in the southern Nineveh Province, the security forces thwarted an attempt to activate IEDs against high-voltage pylons. They found three locally-manufactured IEDs at the site ready to be activated (Al-Sumaria, July 4, 2021).

Erbil Province

• On July 5, 2021, the security forces of the Kurdish region announced that they had foiled an ISIS plan to break into the Erbil prison and liberate ISIS operatives. The plan was foiled when a senior ISIS operative was detained and told his interrogators about it (www.kurdistan24.net, July 5, 2021).

Salah al-Din Province

• A Popular Mobilization force located a building south of Samarra which was used as a workshop for making IEDs. IEDs ready for use were found inside the building, which was apparently used by ISIS (Al-Sumaria, July 4, 2021).

Al-Anbar Province

• On July 2, 2021, the Iraqi army located several dozen communications devices, a mortar and other equipment apparently belonging to ISIS. All those items were located somewhere in the Al-Anbar Province (no specific location was mentioned) (Al-Sumaria, July 2, 2021).

• In the Sinai Peninsula, there was relatively little activity. On July 2, 2021, an Egyptian soldier was targeted by gunfire at a roadblock south of Rafah. He was wounded (Telegram, July 5, 2021). On June 28, 2021, an IED was activated against an Egyptian army foot patrol in the Ganadel region, east of Bir al-Abd. Two soldiers were killed (Telegram, July 1, 2021).

Palestinian who joined ISIS killed

• According to Gazan sources, Ra’ed Wael Abd al-Fattah Abu al-Ainain, a Palestinian from Rafah who joined ISIS’s Sinai Province four years ago and fought against the Egyptian army, was killed in an exchange of fire with Egyptian soldiers in the Bir al-Abd region (Rafah.222 Facebook account, July 2, 2021).

• Data from an infographic published by ISIS, summing up its activity around the world between June 24 and June 30, 2021, shows that during this period, ISIS carried out 66 attacks in the various provinces in Asia and Africa, compared to 71 attacks in the previous week. Similarly to the previous weeks, the largest number of attacks was carried out in Iraq (26). Attacks carried out in ISIS’s other provinces: Syria (14); West Africa (9); Central Africa (7); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (6); Somalia (4); (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, July 1, 2021).
•  According to the infographic, 174 people were killed or wounded in the attacks, compared to 137 in the previous week. The largest number of casualties was in the West Africa Province (51). The other casualties were in the following provinces: Syria (40); Iraq (26); Khorasan, i.e., Afghanistan (22); Somalia (18); Central Africa (17) (Al-Naba’ weekly, Telegram, July 1, 2021).