113-18

ןיעידומה תשרומל זכרמהמ"למ( )

ןיעידומה תשרומל זכרמהמ"למ( )

Main events of the week This week, the Syrian army recorded achievements in its campaign to take over the

southern suburbs of Damascus from ISIS. The Syrian army forces advanced inside the

Yarmouk refugee camp and took control of most of the Al-Qadam neighborhood to its west.

In addition, the Syrian army took control of part of the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood,

south of the Yarmouk refugee camp. The Syrian army’s advance is supported by artillery fire

and airstrikes, causing civilian casualties (36 civilians have been killed since the beginning of

the campaign). The operatives of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham, a jihadi organization

and one of ISIS’s rivals, began to leave the Yarmouk refugee camp for the Idlib region after

reaching an evacuation agreement with the Syrian regime. In eastern Syria, the US-backed

SDF launched an operation called “Island Storm.” Its goal is to mop up the border area

between Syria and Iraq from the presence of ISIS operatives. Afghanistan continues to be the only arena where ISIS systematically initiates attacks

against its opponents, in contrast to other countries where ISIS is on the defensive. This

week, ISIS carried out a number of attacks, the most prominent of which was a double

suicide bombing attack in the compound of the Afghan National Directorate of Security,

which is a preferred target of ISIS. This elaborate attack was carried out in stages: first a

suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the compound. When journalists arrived

to cover the incident, a second suicide bomber, posing as a photographer, blew himself

up. Around 30 people were reportedly killed in the attack, nine of them media people.

Spotlight on Global Jihad April 26 – May 2, 2018

2

113-18

Syria The campaign to take over the southern suburbs of Damascus

The Syrian army continues its campaign to take over the southern suburbs of Damascus

held by ISIS, mainly the Yarmouk refugee camp. At this stage, it seems that the Syrian

army has had quite a few achievements: According to the Syrian News Agency, ISIS has

lost control of most of the Al-Qadam neighborhood (west of the Yarmouk refugee camp)

and part of the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood (south of the Yarmouk refugee camp). The

Syrian army proceeds while using artillery bombardment and airstrikes against ISIS

targets and routes by which ISIS and other organizations transfer operatives and supplies.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that since the beginning of the

campaign, 36 civilians were killed, as well as at least 85 Syrian army soldiers and

operatives of the militias supporting it, and 74 ISIS operatives (Syrian Observatory for

Human Rights, April 29, 2018).

ISIS control areas in the Yarmouk refugee camp (center) and the neighborhoods surrounding it, as published by Amaq News Agency before the beginning of the campaign (Akhbar Al-Muslimeen, March 20, 2018). The Syrian attack mainly targets the Yarmouk refugee camp (center) and the Al-

Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood (bottom, south of the Yarmouk refugee camp)

3

113-18

Fighting in the Al-Qadam neighborhood

Right: Syrian army soldiers in the Al-Madhaniya neighborhood, south of the Al-Qadam neighborhood. Left: Syrian army soldiers in the Al-Madhaniya neighborhood. An embankment

and a checkpoint set up by ISIS in the neighborhood are visible in the background (SANA, April 28, 2018)

Right: Syrian army soldiers celebrating in the Al-Madhaniya neighborhood after its takeover. Left: Part of an ISIS network of tunnels exposed by the Syrian army in the Al-Madhaniya

neighborhood (SANA, April 28, 2018)

Right: Syrian army soldier inside a fortified position in the Al-Asali neighborhood, in the southern part of the Al-Qadam neighborhood. Left: A bus serving as a roadblock in the Al-Asali

neighborhood (SANA, April 29, 2018)

The attack on the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood

The Al-Hajar Al-Aswad neighborhood, south of the Yarmouk refugee camp, is an important

ISIS stronghold. The Syrian army entered the neighborhood on April 27, 2018, and

advanced there using several routes at the same time. Due to the battles, families of ISIS

4

113-18

operatives fled the neighborhood (and the Yarmouk refugee camp) to the villages of Yalda

and Babila, east of the neighborhood.

The Syrian forces attacked these supply and escape routes, and as a result, traffic and

supplies from Al-Hajar Al-Aswad towards the east stopped ("Al-Yarmouk camp is in our

hearts" Facebook page, April 27, 2018; Butulat Al-Jaysh Al-Suri, April 25, 2018). An agreement

has reportedly been achieved to evacuate the rebel organizations’ operatives and the

civilians from these two neighborhoods and from another neighborhood (Beit Sahm) to the

areas of Idlib and Daraa (Mukhayyam Al-Yarmouk News, April 29, 2018).

Fighting tactics in the Yarmouk refugee camp

The Syrian army attacked ISIS operatives in the Yarmouk refugee camp while using

bulldozers and tanks to blaze trails in the camp. On April 29, 2018, the Syrian army

released a video showing a bulldozer and tanks of the Syrian army working in the refugee

camp. The bulldozer was seen blazing a route for the tanks in the narrow streets and

breaking through earth embankments to enable the tanks to pass through them and shell

ISIS operatives in the camp (haol alaalam 24 YouTube Channel, April 29, 2018).

Right: Bulldozer near Syrian army tanks in one of the streets in the Yarmouk refugee camp. Left: Syrian army bulldozer blazing the way for the tanks to advance through an embankment in the

Yarmouk refugee camp (haol alaalam 24 YouTube Channel, April 29, 2018)

Right: Syrian army tank in the Yarmouk refugee camp attacking ISIS targets after a bulldozer blazed a way for it to pass through an embankment (haol alaalam 24 YouTube Channel). Left:

Syrian army soldiers advancing in the Yarmouk refugee camp under the protection of a tank (the soldier Wassim Eissa’s YouTube channel, April 27, 2018)

5

113-18

Right: Tank of the Syrian army’s Republican Guard Brigade. Left: Syrian army tank attacking targets of ISIS and the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (the soldier Wassim Eissa’s

YouTube channel, April 27, 2018)

ISIS’s version of the fighting in south Damascus

On May 1, 2018, ISIS announced that its operatives had killed 30 Syrian soldiers who tried

to advance to the outskirts of the Yarmouk refugee camp and to the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad

neighborhood. ISIS released photos of the execution of a Syrian officer captured in the

fighting (Haqq, May 1, 2018). ISIS’s Amaq News Agency announced that the organization’s

operatives had halted a Syrian army attack in the Al-Tadamon neighborhood (north of the

Yarmouk refugee camp). ISIS also announced that 16 Syrian army soldiers had been killed by

sniper fire in the fighting in the neighborhoods of south Damascus (Haqq, April 29, 2018).

Preparations for the execution of a Syrian officer (Haqq, May 1, 2018)

ISIS’s Damascus Province released a video entitled “The Muslims are [one] Camp”. The

video documents fighting by ISIS operatives against the Syrian army and ISIS’s rival

organization, the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham. The video contains harsh

criticism of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham for evacuating areas in the

neighborhoods south of Damascus and surrendering them to the Syrian regime instead

6

113-18

of ISIS. The video calls on ISIS operatives to continue fighting while believing in their just

cause. It also calls on all Muslims to join them (Haqq, April 28, 2018).

From the video: ISIS operatives fighting in south Damascus (Haqq, April 28, 2018)

Evacuation agreement of operatives of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham

According to Syrian TV, an agreement was reached, according to which operatives of the

Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham would be evacuated to Idlib in two stages. At

the background of the agreement is the evident inferiority of the operatives of the

Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham in south Damascus against the Syrian army, and

their reluctance to fight alongside ISIS (the organization’s relations with ISIS are still tense

in spite of the Syrian army’s attack). The implementation of the evacuation agreement

started on April 30, 2018.

The evacuation agreement, as stated above, includes two phases: As part of the first

phase, operatives of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham will be evacuated from

the Yarmouk refugee camp to Idlib. In return for this move, residents of the besieged Shiite

villages of Kafraya and Al-Fu’ah (about 7 km northeast of Idlib) will be allowed to evacuate

1,200 inhabitants (out of about 5,000) from the villages. The rest of the besieged residents

(about 3,500) will be evacuated in the second phase of the agreement. In addition, it was

stipulated that 85 residents of the village of Ashtabraq, about 29 km southwest of Idlib (near

Jisr Al-Shughur), would be returned to the Syrian army. The village has been besieged by the

rebel organizations (Syrian TV; SANA, April 29, 2018).

The implementation of the agreement started on April 30, 2018. On that day, five buses

with evacuees left the Yarmouk refugee camp. They included dozens of operatives of the

Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (SANA, April 30, 2018). At the same time, dozens

7

113-18

of buses entered the villages of Al-Fu'ah and Kafraya in order to evacuate about 1,500

residents (Al-Durar Al-Shamiya, April 30, 2018). In addition, 42 abductees were released from

the village of Ashtabraq and transferred to the Aleppo area (Syrian Army Information Office,

May 1, 2018).

Right: Armed operatives of the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham walking through the rubble with their personal equipment, in the Yarmouk refugee camp (“Al-Yarmouk camp is in our hearts” Facebook page, April 30, 2018). Left: Five buses which evacuated dozens of operatives of

the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham from the Yarmouk refugee camp (SANA, April 30, 2018)

Unification between two jihadi organizations in the Idlib area

On April 29, 2018, the Guardians of the Religion Organization, which split off from the

Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham (formerly the Al-Nusra Front), announced its

unification with the Supporters of the Oneness of Allah Organization.1 The name of the

new organization is “The Alliance of Supporting Islam” (Enab Baladi, April 24, 2018). The

Guardians of the Religion Organization, which is loyal to Al-Qaeda and regards itself as

subordinate to Ayman al-Zawahiri. The organization was established in late February 2018,

based on accusing Abu Mohammad al-Julani, leader of the Headquarters for the Liberation of

Al-Sham, of conducting his own independent “Syrian” policy.2

1 The jihadi organization “Supporters of the Oneness of Allah” was established in May 2018 by groups which split off from the Al-Aqsa Army in the town of Sarmin, about 7 km east of Idlib. 2 See the ITIC's Information Bulletin from March 13, 2018: “Split among Al-Qaeda’s supporters in Syria, in light of severe differences of opinion regarding the nature of the ties with Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.”

8

113-18

Leaflet announcing the establishment of the organization “The Alliance of Supporting Islam” (in Arabic: Hilf Nusrat al-Islam)

(Syrian TV, April 29, 2018)

In the ITIC's assessment, the merger between the two organizations may somewhat

strengthen the influence of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadi organizations in the Idlib area.

However, the ITIC believes that these jihadi organizations cannot pose a real challenge to

the Headquarters for the Liberation of Al-Sham which, in the ITIC's assessment, will

remain the dominant organization among the rebel organizations operating in the Idlib

area.

The Lower Euphrates River

Operation Island Storm against ISIS operatives

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), operating with US support, announced the opening

of Operation Island Storm. The operation’s goal is to remove ISIS’s presence from the

border area between Iraq and Syria and mop up this region (the SDF website, May 1, 2018).

At this stage, the ITIC does not have information on the operation’s progress on the ground.

9

113-18

SDF announcing the launch of Operation Island Storm (SDF website, May 1, 2018)

Syrian army activity on the east bank of the Euphrates River

The Syrian army has recently taken over two villages held by ISIS on the east bank of the

Euphrates River, several kilometers north of Deir ez-Zor. A few days earlier, a Russian force

built a bridge connecting the two banks of the Euphrates. The bridge served the Syrian

army to transfer equipment, weapons and military vehicles to the east bank of the

Euphrates River (Qasiyoun, April 29, 2018; Rusiya Al-Youm, April 11, 2018).

Main developments in Iraq ISIS’s attempts to disrupt elections in Iraq

ISIS continues its attempts to disrupt the general elections in Iraq, scheduled for next

month, so far, with no considerable success. This follows ISIS’s spokesman Abu Hassan al-

Muhajir's warning that the polling stations would be targeted by ISIS operatives. It can be

assumed that as the elections approach, ISIS will enhance its efforts to disrupt them by

terror operations.

On April 27, 2018, ISIS’s Amaq News Agency released a video showing ISIS operatives

shooting and killing two election campaign activists in the city of Al-Tamiriya (about 34

km north of Baghdad). The video shows an ISIS operative pointing a gun at the two activists.

They are seen bound, kneeling, with ads on behalf of election candidates placed in front of

them. The operative says that he is acting based on what ISIS spokesman Abu al-Hassan al-

Muhajir said (on the disruption of the elections). Afterwards, the two activists were shot to

death (Haqq and a file-sharing website, April 28, 2018).

10

113-18

ISIS operative pointing a gun at two election campaign activists shortly before their execution (Haqq and a file-sharing website, April 28, 2018)

Iraqi security forces’ activity against ISIS

The Iraqi security forces continue to operate against local ISIS networks throughout Iraq:

Nineveh Province: Iraqi Military Intelligence personnel killed three ISIS operatives

while they were carrying aid and food through the Tigris River to one of ISIS’s

hideouts in Al-Qayyarah (about 60 km south of Mosul). In addition, a force of the

Rapid Response Apparatus of the Nineveh police captured three ISIS operatives near

Mosul’s northern neighborhoods (Iraqi News Agency, April 29, 2018).

Iraqi security forces during a security activity (Iraqi News Agency, April 29, 2018)

The city of Mosul: On April 29, 2018, a force of the emergency police in the Nineveh

Province detained a senior ISIS operative on the east bank of the Euphrates River. The

detainee is ISIS’s man in charge of security, who recently returned from Syria.

Many weapons were found in his possession. He admitted forming two terror squads.

In addition, ISIS’s man in charge of manufacturing weapons was captured in Mosul

(Iraqi News Agency, April 22, 2018).

11

113-18

Al-Anbar Province: Al-Anbar’s Tribal Mobilization detained three senior ISIS

operatives in the Rutba District, about 280 km west of Ramadi (Iraqi News Agency, April

28, 2018).

Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula The Egyptian Armed Forces’ General Headquarters released announcement no. 20 on the

campaign against ISIS in Sinai (Sinai 2018, April 25, 2018). The announcement stated, among

other things, that Nasser Abu Zaqul, ISIS’s emir in central Sinai, was eliminated. Dozens of

ISIS operatives were killed, weapons were seized, IEDs were deactivated, and dozens of

vehicles, including motorcycles, were confiscated.

ISIS Activity in other countries Yemen

Saleh Nasser Fadhl al-Bakshi, Emir of ISIS’s Aden Province, was killed on April 28,

2018, in an exchange of fire with members of the Yemeni counterterrorism unit. Saleh al-

Bakshi and other operatives barricaded themselves in a building in Aden. In the exchange of

fire, a member of the counterterrorism unit was also killed. Three ISIS operatives were

detained. According to a statement issued by the Aden police, Al-Bakshi was responsible for

the deaths of hundreds of people, most of them members of the Yemeni security forces in the

south of the country (Reuters, April 28, 2018).

Right: Members of the Yemeni security forces who exchanged fire with Al-Bakshi and his men (Al-Aan TV’s YouTube channel, April 28, 2018). Left: The body of Saleh Nasser Fadhl al-Bakshi, Emir of

ISIS’s Aden Province (Al-Arabiya, April 28, 2018)

Afghanistan

ISIS suicide bombing attack in Kabul

On April 30, 2018, ISIS carried out a double suicide bombing attack in the compound of

the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS), a preferred target of ISIS. A first suicide

12

113-18

bomber detonated an explosive vest that he was apparently wearing at the checkpoint in the

entrance to the compound. Around half an hour later, when journalists and civilians

reached the scene of the attack, a second suicide bomber blew himself up. According to

Afghan Interior Ministry Spokesman Najib Danish, the second suicide bomber posed as a

media man and blew himself up among a group of reporters and rescue teams. Around

30 people were killed in the attack and dozens were wounded. Nine of the dead were

members of the media who came to cover the attack (Khaama Press; Reuters; AP, May 1,

2018).

Scene of the attack in Kabul (taken from a video on the Facebook page of Ahmad Ahmadi, April 30, 2018)

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, presenting a different version of what

happened which, in the ITIC’s assessment, is false. According to the claim of responsibility,

two suicide bombing attacks were carried out against the Afghan intelligence headquarters in

the city of Kabul. One of the perpetrators, codenamed Kaaka al-Kurdi (suggesting that he

was of Kurdish origin), carried out the attack with an explosive vest. According to the claim

of responsibility, 50 people were killed and wounded. The survivors fled to the operations

room, where another suicide bomber was waiting for them. The suicide bomber, codenamed

Khalil al-Qurashi, then blew himself up (Haqq, April 30, 2018).

Additional attacks carried out by ISIS

On April 28, 2018, 20 people, including six policemen, were killed in Jalalabad by a

motorcycle bomb near a mosque and an election registration center (Afghanistan Times,

April 29, 2018). On April 29, 2018, the Amaq News Agency announced that 20 people, including

six policemen, had been killed by a motorcycle bomb at a voter registration center in

Jalalabad (Haqq, April 29, 2018).

Five people were killed and at least 10 others were injured in a car bomb explosion on

April 27, 2018, in the Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. According to local

reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up with a car bomb near the army headquarters.

13

113-18

The blast killed four civilians and one policeman. No claim of responsibility has been issued

to date (Ayn Libya, April 28, 2018).

Training of ISIS operatives

ISIS’s Khorasan Province released photos from the Mohammad Abu Masalma al-Ansari

training camp where it trains its operatives. The photos show the operatives undergoing

training, including in the use of small arms, and storming various targets (Haqq, April 28,

2018).

Right: Camp operatives during training. Left: Operatives in the camp attacking targets (Haqq, April 28, 2018)

Counterterrorism and preventive activity Russia

ISIS network exposed

In March 2018, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) thwarted the activities of four

operatives belonging to a secret ISIS network. The operatives came from the city of Novy

Urengoy, approximately 2,300 km northeast of Moscow (the second largest city in Russia’s

Yamalo-Nenets province). The operatives planned to carry out a series of terrorist attacks

in the Moscow region, under the direction of handlers in Syria. They received their

instructions via the Telegram app.

Their interrogation revealed the network’s ties with a number of other extremist residents

in the city of Novy Urengoy. As a result, on April 26, 2018, the Federal Security Service,

together with the Russian Interior Ministry, carried out an operation in the city of Novy

Urengoy. They arrested 20 people and seized ISIS propaganda materials, communications

devices and religious literature of a radical nature (Russian Federal Security Service website,

April 27, 2018).

14

113-18

This was the third time the Russian Federal Security Service foiled attacks planned by

ISIS operatives in April 2018: On April 21, 2018, the security service liquidated an ISIS

operative who had planned to carry out a shooting attack and detonate an IED in buildings of

the local government and the Russian Federal Security Service in the Stavropol Province. On

April 17, 2018, the Federal Security Service announced that it had arrested operatives of an

ISIS squad who planned to carry out a shooting attack and detonate an IED in the Rostov

Oblast. The operatives were handled by ISIS operatives in Syria (Russian Federal Security

Service website, April 17 and April 27, 2018). The connection between these networks and

their Syrian handlers may indicate that even in light of the pressure exerted on ISIS in its

core countries (Syria and Iraq), its operatives continue to encourage attacks around the

world, including in Russia.

Russian women sentenced to life imprisonment in Iraq for membership in ISIS

According to Russian media reports, an Iraqi court sentenced 19 Russian women to

life imprisonment for joining the Islamic State. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman

Maria Zakharova confirmed in the past that the Foreign Ministry was aware of the matter

and was in contact with the relevant authorities in Iraq. The Russian Foreign Ministry

reported that since the summer of 2017, a total of 73 children and 24 women with Russian

citizenship were sent back to Russia from Iraq and Syria. According to the announcement,

some 50 to 70 women are being held in prisons in Baghdad (TASS News Agency, April 29,

2018).

Turkey

This week, the Turkish security forces carried out intensive activity against ISIS operatives.

As part of this activity:

A senior ISIS official who served as ISIS’s Emir in Deir ez-Zor and who is close to

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was arrested along with three other senior operatives in

the Izmir Province (Hürriyet Daily News; Anatolia News Agency, quoted by AP, April 27,

2018). The Euphrates Post website reported that the most senior of the four detainees

was Kasser al-Hadawi, codenamed Abu Qa’qa’ al-Qurani, former governor of ISIS’s

Al-Khayr Province. The three others held senior positions in the areas of intelligence

and security in the Al-Khayr Province and in the Euphrates Province (Euphrates Post,

April 26 and 28, 2018).

15

113-18

On April 29, 2018, Turkish counterterrorism units arrested 10 people in the city

of Adana suspected of membership in ISIS and planning an attack. Four of them

reportedly have Turkish citizenship and six have Syrian citizenship (Daily Sabah, May 1,

2018).

Turkish police in Istanbul arrested 41 people suspected of membership in ISIS.

According to the reports, 40 of them are foreigners and one is a Turk (Daily Sabah, April

28, 2018).

Western Countries

According to a report by Europol, on April 25, 2018, Western countries began an

operation aimed at damaging ISIS capabilities to disseminate terrorist content. The

United States, Canada and EU countries (France, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria

and Romania) are participating in the operation. It should be noted that this week, two major

ISIS websites – Amaq and Nasher – were removed from the Internet, but they might reappear

within days or weeks.

Fundraising by ISIS This week, ISIS’s important Akhbar al-Muslimeen website resumed activity after being

down for a few weeks. The website has posted a call to donate to the organization, not only

in Bitcoin (as was the case in the past), but also in an additional digital currency called Z-

cash, which is considered more secure in terms of preserving the anonymity of those who use

it.3

3 Z-cash is a virtual currency that was developed in 2016. It was developed by the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company. There are those who claim that the currency is an improved type of currency for users, compared to other virtual currencies such as the Bitcoin, which allow users to conceal the identity of the sender and the recipient, and the amount of money sold. Transactions can be carried out like Bitcoin transactions but there is also the possibility of making transfers without revealing one’s identity.

16

113-18

The call for donations that appeared on the website of ISIS’s Akhbar al-Muslimeen website: “Click here to donate in Bitcoins or Z-cash (Z-cash is better in terms of privacy – [because the

user’s details] cannot be traced)”