Global Terrorism This Week (GTTW) – August 29 to September 4, 2022

Weekly thought – the neverending story of ISIS terrorists

It has been approximately three years since ISIS – Islamic State – was allegedly ‘defeated’ in the northern parts of Iraq and Syria. The terrorist group had formed its so-called ‘Caliphate’ in 2014 and went on to become the world’s biggest, and most brutal bunch of jihadis. Nothing was beneath these violent ‘warriors’: mass rape, forced marriages (‘sex slaves‘), throwing people alive off buildings, burning them alive and drowning them in cages. Their actions almost made some wish Al Qaeda (AQ) had never gone away.

Except that the ‘defeat’ was not as sold. Not only is ISIS still active in the same areas where it had once established a functioning state, but has also become the world’s largest terrorist confederation as measured by ‘branches’ (‘wilayat’) and those ‘inspired’ by it. As of the time of writing neither aspect – the leftovers of the Caliphate in the Middle East nor the copycats on at least two continents (Africa and Asia) – are showing any signs of going away.

Whether it is ISIS in Afghanistan (ISK), ISIS in India, ISIS in the Sinai, or the trio of African subsidiaries – Islamic State Western (Nigeria et al), Central (DRC, Mozambique) and Eastern (what the group in Somalia is sometimes called) African Provinces – there is little doubt that this gathering of terrorists is still very much with us.

Not that I want to give ex-US President Donald Trump any more attention than he has already undeservedly received, but it is important for those of us who write about terrorism to remember that terrorist groups are rarely ‘100% defeated‘ (Trump: 2019). It doesn’t usually work that way.

This week by the numbers

• Countries which experienced actual attacks: 6 (Afghanistan, Colombia, DRC, Israel, Mozambique, Nigeria and Somalia)
• Victims (dead/wounded): 137 dead 28 wounded (including terrorists)
• Ideology of terrorists: majority Islamist extremist (jihadis)
• Single greatest attack: DRC’s jihadi ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) killed at least 40 between August 25 and 29.

Afghanistan

• An explosion tore through a crowded mosque in western Afghanistan on September 2, killing at least 18 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounding 21. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility Islamic State (ISIS) in Khorasan Province (ISK) is suspected.

Burkina Faso

• Burkina Faso claimed on August 29 that its forces had killed 28 Islamist terrorists and lost one soldier in operations in the north and east of  the country.

Colombia

• At least seven police officers were killed in an explosives attack in western Colombia on September 2, the deadliest attack on security forces since President Petro took office promising to end the country’s nearly 60-year conflict. The men were killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling was hit by explosives. Petro did not name the suspected perpetrators of the attack although so-called dissidents from the now-demobilised FARC rebel movement are known to operate in the area, according to security sources. The ELN (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional – National Liberation Army) is another possible perpetrator.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

• Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) jihadis killed at least 40 civilians in a string of attacks on several villages in east Democratic Republic of Congo between August 25 and 29. A nurse at a hospital in one of the villages said he saw the bodies of 26 villagers who were killed and 76 kidnapped in one of attacks.
• The bodies of at least 14 civilians and eight members of the CODECO militia were discovered in a town in eastern DRC on September 1. CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo – is a political-religious sect that claims to represent the interests of the Lendu ethnic group. The death toll was later raised to at least 33.

India

• India’s Assam government on August 31 demolished a third state madrassa (Islamic school) this month which it claimed was linked to Al Qaida (AQ) and was being used as hubs for “terror activities”.

Iraq

• Kurdish Internal security forces in northeast Syria arrested 12 suspected members of ISIS in the notorious al-Hol camp on August 29. According to a second source, the total number of arrests over the past week reached 60, and later rose to 121.
• The Turkish military claimed on September 3 that it had ‘neutralised’ 3 more Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan – PKK) terrorists in Syria/Iraq.
• The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) killed another senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq on September 4. Bedirhan Abi, codenamed ‘Darav Gevda’, was said to be the terrorist organization’s local responsible leader.

Mali

• Mali and Burkina Faso militaries agreed to strengthen ties during a visit by the latter’s Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who seized power in a coup in January. According to a statement “the two countries… intend to pool their efforts in the fight against terrorism.”

Mozambique

• Jihadis in the northern region of Cabo Delgado killed at least 11 people on August 31: some of the victims had been beheaded. The terrorists captured one woman and forced her to watch as they beheaded their victims. The terrorists then moved on to kill three more in a nearby village and burned down houses in two more.

Nigeria

• Troops of Operation Desert Sanity in Nigeria reportedly ambushed suspected ISWAP fighters on August 29, killing many of them in Yobe State.
• The Nigerian Air Force conducted multiple airstrikes in Borno State on August 30 and 31, 2022 on three Boko Haram (BH) terrorist camps killing at least 49 terrorists.
• Mohammed Alkali Imam, a staff member of International Rescue Committee (IRC) who was abducted by Boko Haram on March 10, 2022, was freed by his captors on August 31.
• BH jihadists rounded up Nigerian fishermen, abducting some and killing others in Niger’s side of Lake Chad, on August 28 and 29. The terrorists sequestered dozens of fishermen for disobeying a directive to leave the area.
• Military airstrikes killed five BH commanders and 195 other terrorists in Borno State on September 1. 03_

Palestine/Israel

• Israel’s supreme court on September 1 rejected an appeal by a Jewish extremist settler sentenced to life in prison over a 2015 firebombing that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents. The judges wrote: “Hatred of other religions and racism are not in accordance with Judaism. The gravity of this crime speaks for itself and no words can describe its horror.”  
• Gunmen wounded six Israeli soldiers and a civilian on September 4 when they sprayed bullets at a bus in the occupied West Bank: Hamas praises attack as ‘heroic operation’.

Philippines

• The Philippines Armed Forces have reduced their troop presence in Sulu after threats from extremist groups like the ISIS-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has gone down. Major General Patrimonio was quoted as saying “the threat level in Sulu has gone down radically. We are sustaining this momentum through focused operations and so far, the communities continue to experience a better security climate.”

Somalia

• an improvised explosive device (IED) killed a deputy district commissioner in Mogadishu on August 29; the ISIS affiliate in the region claimed responsibility, the highest profile attack by that group in some time.
• AS terrorists in central Somalia destroyed a drinking well and two telecommunications towers in Galgadud on August 31.
• AS killed 22 in an attack on a food convoy in the Hiraan region on September 2. 17 died when the group attacked the convoy while another five were killed when the vehicle they were in on the way to attend to the victims of the armed assault hit a landmine. Coincidentally, the US Embassy in Mogadishu issued a statement saying that AS would “not triumph, they will crumble”. Reports noted that women and children were among the dead.
• The Senior Advisor for Special Political Affairs at the US Mission to the UN, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, confirmed on September 4 that AS has begun using modern technology, including drones, making their attacks on Somali government facilities even more dangerous. According to the ambassador: “Among new and emerging technologies, as we have heard, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are particularly exploited by terrorist groups to facilitate attacks, conduct intelligence and develop propaganda.”
• AS killed five people in Jilib it accused of spying for the US Africa Command on September 4.
• Al Shabaab claimed on September 4 that it had destroyed three fuel tankers en route to the Baledogle Airfield, a US military facility used for staging drone strikes and training Somali security services. Somali government officials said no one was killed or seriously injured in the attack.

Switzerland

• Swiss police arrested two people on September 1 in connection with a federal investigation into their suspected support for, or participation in, ISIS. The arrests were part of a criminal case opened in July last year by the Swiss attorney general’s office and centred on a Swiss-Macedonian dual national and a citizen of Kosovo, who lived separately in the two Swiss regions. The arrests were made in French-speaking western Switzerland.

Tunisia

• The Tunisian army killed three ISIS-linked jihadists during an operation in the central-western part of the country on September 2. The terrorists died in the Mount Salloum area near Kasserine, a town close to the Algerian border

Turkey

• A Turkish court on September 3 ordered the pre-trial jailing of pro-Kurdish HDP member of parliament Semra Guzel on a terrorism charge.
• Turkish police stated on September 4 that they had detained a Kurdistan Workers Party terrorist who received training at a notorious camp in Greece and had been planning to carry out armed and bomb attacks in large cities. Greece, which has denied the charges, has long been accused of being a favorite hideout for terrorists from the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) and PKK. .

United Kingdom

• Following an investigation by the UK’s Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Command, Sabbir Miah of east London was convicted on August 30 of posting an ISIS propaganda video on social media.
• A 19-year old Austrian man was charged with terrorism offences,  including three counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication, in the UK on August 30 following an investigation by the UK’s Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Command.

Yemen

• Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP) released a video on September 3 showing a United Nations (UN) worker who was abducted in the war-torn country more than six months ago. According to a UN spokesperson five UN staff members were kidnapped in Yemen’s southern Abyan province in February while returning to the port city of Aden “after having completed a field mission.” Akam Sofyol Anam, a Bangladeshi citizen, asked the UN to meet the demands of his captors as he was facing “serious health trouble”, including heart problems, and needed “immediate medical support and hospitalisation”.