An organization that tracks violence in Syria reported on Monday that Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists killed four soldiers of dictator Bashar al-Assad in an attack that deliberately targeted the army, but experts said The latest development that concerns the House is the acceleration of ISIS activities within the country.
The incident reportedly occurred in Raqqa province. The largest city, which bears the name Raqqa province, was once the capital of the Islamic State’s caliphate, which was established in large areas of both Iraq and Syria. This comes as the Sunni jihadist terror group has become more active across Africa and South Asia after ISIS was eradicated from Raqqa in 2017, and there are concerns that it is finding ways to regroup in the Middle East. It happened in a growing situation.
A Syrian man walks past a giant portrait of President Bashar al-Assad in Umawiyin Square in the Syrian capital Damascus on May 3, 2021. (LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Much of the contemporary focus on the Islamic State has centered on Khorasan province, ISIS’s local stronghold in Afghanistan. ISIS-K reportedly claimed responsibility for a major terrorist attack on a music venue and shopping mall in Crocus City, Russia, on the outskirts of Moscow in March, and has expanded under the control of the terrorist group Taliban. It’s showing signs. Islamic State has also expanded its influence across Africa, particularly in countries with weak governments, such as Nigeria and Nigeria. Mozambique. But over the past year, observers have recorded an increase in ISIS activity in the former “caliphate.”
This weekend’s reported killing of an Assad soldier was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that has long documented violence in the country, particularly throughout Syria’s decade-long civil war.
“Four members of regime forces were killed in an attack targeting a military position south of the city of Tabqa in the western countryside of Raqqa,” Kurdish news agency Rudaw reported. Quote The observatory says: The report added that the official Syrian army had received “reinforcements” following attacks from an independent pro-Assad militia known as the National Defense Forces (NDF).
“ISIS attacks are on the rise in Syria, especially in the vast desert regions of the east and north, where ISIS carries out surprise attacks in a security vacuum,” Rudeau said.
US outlet “Voice of America” quoted Reports in early April similarly found evidence that the Islamic State group is regrouping, recruiting more recruits, and expanding its territory in both Syria and Iraq. Some of that evidence comes from statistics documented by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the division of the Department of Defense that operates in the Middle East.
“The number of Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq is about 2,500, double the number estimated in late January, according to data just released by U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces across the Middle East and South Asia. That’s it,” Voice of America said. report.
Voice of America also cited a report by the Counter-Extremism Project, a nonprofit organization that monitors global terrorism, stating that “by any measure, March was the most violent month for ISIS’s Badia.” It was a great month,” he concluded. [central Syrian desert] The insurgency has been ongoing since late 2017, when the group lost control of territory for the first time. ”
The report specifically noted that Islamic State terrorists are increasingly targeting “security forces,” including the Assad regime. At the height of the caliphate, much of ISIS’ violence was carried out by non-government forces such as the US military and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of militias led by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). It was aimed at Assad. YPJ). The Self-Defense Forces, in cooperation with the U.S. military, assumed ultimate responsibility for liberating Raqqa.
“ISIS carried out at least 69 confirmed attacks in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Raqqa, and Deir Ezzor governorates in March,” the Counter-Extremism Project report said. documented. “These attacks left at least 84 pro-Assad soldiers and 44 civilians dead, and at least 51 more soldiers and civilians injured.”
As a result of its leading role in the fall of ISIS, the SDF to this day controls several prisons housing Islamic State terrorists, many in foreign countries where countries refuse to repatriate terrorists. It’s a person. Iraq has stepped up efforts to bring back some terrorist suspects. conclusion On Monday, around 700 suspected Islamic State members, mostly women and children, were repatriated, but the effort alone will not be enough to significantly reduce the SDF prison population.
In another sign of ISIS’ expansion in the region, SDF leaders reported: attack April 16 at one of those prisons.
“After the attack, dozens of ISIS detainees attempted to escape from the prison. However, according to Kurdish media Kurdistan 24, the SDF was unable to escape due to security measures and internal security implemented by SDF units and internal security forces at the time. He said an escape attempt was thwarted.
Kurdistan24 noted that the SDF has been warning for months that ISIS activity in the region has “significantly increased” over the past year, and independent reports appear to confirm that claim. . In January, for example, a UN report claimed that ISIS had turned the heart of central Syria into a “logistical and operational base with 500 to 600 fighters.”
The US State Department has repeatedly acknowledged the existence of Islamic State in Syria.
“We continue to see a real threat in Iraq and Syria, where ISIS once controlled areas of approximately 10 million people,” said Ian McCurry, deputy special envoy of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. marking On the anniversary of the fall of the Caliphate in March, “And we are aware of the rise of the so-called ISIS-affiliated group in Afghanistan, the so-called ISIS Khorasan, which poses a clear external threat, and the rise of ISIS affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa.” We’ve seen related organizations emerge.” ”
“We clearly recognize that ISIS continues to pose a threat, and we remain committed to this effort,” McCulley said of the U.S.-led global coalition.
The State Department’s 2023 Syria Human Rights Annual Report, released April 22, repeatedly identified the Islamic State as a persistent threat to human rights.
“ISIS committed killings, attacks, and kidnappings, including against civilians. There were no reports of investigations or prosecutions for such acts,” the report said. observed. “NGOs reported widespread sexual assault, torture, detention, killing, and other forms of child abuse by regime and pro-regime forces, HTS, and ISIS.”
