Islamic State ‘entrenched’ in Iraq and Syria
In response to the most recent Pentagon Inspector Common report, the Islamic State “claimed fewer attacks in Iraq and Syria but remained entrenched in remote, rugged areas.”
IS additionally continued to impress sectarian, ethnic and tribal divisions in each Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, IS assaults elevated in areas disputed between the federal authorities and the Kurdistan area.
The quarterly report on Operation Inherent Resolve, the title of the US navy mission to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria and set situations for long-term safety cooperation, covers the interval from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2021. The report was printed on Feb. 8, simply 5 days after the US special forces operation in Idlib province in northern Syria that led to the demise of IS chief Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
Seven fast takeaways
- The USA maintains roughly 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria. The US mission in Iraq transitioned from fight to “advising, helping, and enabling” Iraqi safety forces on Dec. 31.
- There are 1.2 million internally displaced individuals and 252,000 Syrian refugees in Iraq (out of a inhabitants of 40 million), and 6.8 million IDPs in Syria (out of 17.5 million).
- IS has “included present jihadist teams or upstart parts into its international group, increasing into the Arabian Peninsula, South and Southeast Asia, Eurasia, Turkey, and Africa,” offering “the group’s branches with steerage, media assist, and funding,” which it derives more and more from legal actions.
- Regardless of prior management losses (earlier than the killing of Qurayshi), IS confirmed “few indicators of main fracturing or disaggregation” in the course of the quarter.
- IS “continued to prioritize liberating its members detained in Iraq and Syria,” foreshadowing the large assault on al-Sinaa jail in Syria on Jan. 20-21. Sultan al-Kanj, Shelly Kittleson reporting from Iraq, Jared Szuba reporting from Washington and Amberin Zaman have scoops and evaluation on the jailbreak and its aftermath.
- Each the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Iraqi navy confirmed enchancment in capabilities, however nonetheless rely upon coalition assist for fight and intelligence operations.
- Concluding its evaluation of Syria coverage in December, the Biden administration mentioned it “will proceed to deal with core coverage priorities.” They embody the marketing campaign in opposition to IS, supporting native cease-fires, increasing humanitarian entry into and all through the nation, “urgent for accountability and respect for worldwide regulation whereas selling human rights and nonproliferation, together with via the imposition of focused sanctions, and supporting a political course of led by the Syrian individuals, as envisioned in UN Safety Council Decision (UNSCR) 2254.”
Killing of Qurayhsi results in questions on Turkish position
US President Joe Biden praised the “essential partnership” of the SDF in finishing up the operation that killed Qurayhsi. He additionally talked about the Iraqi safety forces and the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga.
Conspicuously not talked about was any Turkish position within the operation, though “Qurayshi was hiding in a home close to the northern Syrian city of Atmeh, a stone’s throw from the border throughout the Turkish province of Hatay and just a few hundred meters from Turkey’s Bukulmez navy outpost, which overlooks the area,” writes Fehim Tastekin.
Though the area is out of the management of Turkey and its proxy forces in Syria, “Atmeh and close by villages will be simply monitored from the navy watchtower at Bukulmez outpost,” provides Tastekin, and “Given the intelligence leaks that recommend Qurayshi was additionally counting on an internet of couriers to guide the group like his predecessor, Turkey’s failure to determine the suspicious mobility within the area is elevating additional questions.”
“In response to Kasim Guler, the alleged IS chief for Turkey whose confessions to the Turkish authorities have been leaked to the media final week, [former IS leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi had decided to make use of Turkey as a serious base.”
Different accounts paint a extra energetic and sophisticated image of Turkish counter-IS operations.
The Pentagon report famous that in accordance with “media accounts,” Turkey and Turkish-supported Syrian armed opposition teams “performed operations in opposition to ISIS in the course of the quarter in areas they management” and “Turkish intelligence assisted Iraq within the seize of senior ISIS chief Sami Jasim in northwestern Syria.”
Khaled al-Khateb reported from Aleppo lower than every week earlier than the Qurayshi operation, “The Turkish-backed Syrian opposition has waged a safety marketing campaign in opposition to Islamic State cells in Azaz within the northern Aleppo countryside since Jan. 20, resulting in the arrest of dozens of IS members and collaborators. The hunt for different members is predicted to proceed via the confessions of their fellows.”
In the meantime in Idlib
Idlib province, the place the operation in opposition to Qurayshi passed off, is generally below the management of the “Salvation Authorities” led by Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda that was designated a terrorist group in 2018 by the United States, Turkey, and the UN Security Council.
HTS claims it has reduce ties with al-Qaeda and its chief, Mohammed al-Golani, has been on a public relations marketing campaign the previous two years to shake the terrorist label and reposition HTS as freedom fighters holding the road in opposition to the Syrian authorities, shedding his robes and ideological rhetoric for Western fits.
5 updates from our regional reporters
- Residents of displacement camps close to the positioning of the US operation that killed Qurayshi are nonetheless traumatized and terrified not solely of a potential return by the Islamic State, but additionally by the US-led coalition, writes Mouneb Taim from Idlib.
- The continued decline of monetary and logistical assist hospitals in Idlib is resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe, Taim stories.
- Golani just lately provided $1 million to present heating to displaced households affected by chilly winter climate, scary “widespread controversy and criticism on social media, with activists mocking him for making an attempt to look as a humanitarian activist as an alternative of a navy chief,” writes Sultan al-Kanj.
- HTS has stepped up its arrest marketing campaign in opposition to al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras al-Din, a rival of HTS in Idlib, Kanj stories.
- Amid deteriorating situations in Idlib’s public faculties, spiritual faculties have proliferated throughout the realm, stories Mohammed Hardan.
