ISIS activities in Syria surge in 1^st quarter of 2023

ISIS activity

Islamic State (ISIS) still poses a great danger and threat to the world in general and particularly to Syria, although it has not seized any areas in Syria since it lost its last stronghold in Baghouz in Deir ez-Zor, eastern the country, in 2019, at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US-led Global Coalition to defeat ISIS.

ISIS has intensified its activity in the first three months of 2023 by about 49%, in comparison with the last year.

Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press has documented 72 attacks by the group across Syria, 29 of which were carried out against the SDF, 23 against civilians, and 20 against Syrian government forces.

ISIS claimed responsibility of over 36 attacks.

147 people were killed in those attacks, including 98 civilians, and 46 were injured, including 6 civilians.

ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.

After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS fighters were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.

Issue of the family members of the ISIS held in camps in northeast Syria constitutes an ongoing challenge for the non-internationally recognized AANES, which repeatedly demands that the concerned countries repatriate their nationals.

Also, the AANES continues to call on the international powers to provide support for establishing rehabilitation centers and help in tackling the security situation in the facilities where ISIS foreign nationals are held.

Despite many calls, the majority of countries, including those participating in the Global Coalition, refuse to repatriate their nationals.

The countryside of Deir ez-Zor continues to witness an increase in cases of assassination, targeting members of the SDF, employees of the AANES, tribal leaders and civilians, despite the intensive security operations launched by the SDF. 

The North Press Monitoring and Documentation Department recorded 36 operations in Deir ez-Zor; 12 in Raqqa, northern the country; 10 in Homs, central Syria; eight in Hama, in the central west; four in Hasakah, northeast the country; one in Qamishli, in the northeast Syria; and another in Aleppo.

However, this came in tandem with the intensification of security operations against ISIS, as 67 ones were launched by the SDF, including nine airdrops of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and the government forces conducted six operations, arresting 489 people accused of belonging to ISIS, killing 10, and injuring others.

ISIS, this year, followed a new policy, using mines, IEDs and other remnants of war during its attacks, killing 115 individuals, including 84 civilians, 23 children and four women.

In addition, the group attacked people in the Syrian Badia, where it attacked truffle hunters and shepherds, killing 73 ones, while the fate of 71 of them is still unknown.

In truffle hunting season, hundreds of truffle hunters have gone missing under mysterious circumstances, some of whom were killed by militants or mines, while others were kidnapped. The fate of many is still unknown.

Each year in February, hundreds of Syrians risk their lives in the vast Syrian Desert, which is rich in high-quality truffles. The late winter season is largely seen as an opportunity to earn a good income, due to the high prices paid for the desert delicacy, despite the threats of landmines and ISIS presence.

AANES handed over during the first quarter of 2023 about 242 people of ISIS family members, including 201 children and 41 women, to their countries of origin, including Spain, France, Russia, Norway, Sudan, Barbados, Slovakia, and Kyrgyzstan.

The AANES also handed over 1,165 Iraqis to their country.

There are 60,137 people in camps for ISIS family members in northeast Syria within 16,755 families, including 3,661 foreign families of 60 different nationalities, in addition to about 10,000 others in detention centers, while the number of foreign children and women in the camps reached 9,986, including 2,104 women and 7,070 children.

Among the most prominent international moves regarding the fight against ISIS is the extension of Canada’s military missions in the Middle East for another two years, and the visit of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General, Mark Milley, to northeastern Syria, to assess operations to combat ISIS.

In addition, Gen. Michael Kurilla, US Central Command (CENTCOM) commander, described ISIS militants who are in the detention centers of northeastern Syria as a “a veritable ISIS Army in Detention,” after he visited both Syria and Iraq, and called on the countries to repatriate their nationals, rehabilitate and reintegrate them within their countries and communities.