ISIS in February 2023 | Noticeable escalation leave 80 civilians and 27 regime soldiers dead, amid subsiding operations in SDF-controlled areas

On Feb 28, 2023

Although the Counter-ISIS International Coalition command and the leaders of Syria Democratic Forces announced the elimination of the so-called Caliphate of the “Islamic State” in March 2019, recent developments on the ground indicate that ISIS has not been fully eliminated. ISIS continues launching military operations and counter-attacks which are met with security campaigns by Coalition forces and their Syria Democratic Forces partner throughout SDF-controlled areas, in addition to military operations by Russian and regime forces against ISIS cells in areas under their control. However, ISIS cells are still able to exploit opportunities to create a security vacuum and carry out assassinations, which clearly indicates that the “Islamic State” is still alive and kicking.

In the 103^rd month after the declaration of “Al-Baghdadi’s Caliphate”, ISIS carried out seven operations, including armed attacks and explosions, in areas controlled by SDF, killing four persons: one civilian and three members of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) which are operating in areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration.

Further details on these operations are as follows:

February 11: An Asayish member was killed in an attack by unknown gunmen, believed to be of ISIS cells in Deir Ezzor

February 17: A civilian was injured after being shot by gunmen of ISIS in Abo Hamam town in eastern Deir Ezzor countryside within SDF-held areas, where he was taken to the hospital to receive proper medication.

February 21: A member of Al-Asayesh was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike, who are likely to belong to ISIS, in Al-Harijiya village in northern Deir Ezzor countryside.

February 23: A civilian from Tayeb Al-Fal working in oil investment was shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes, who belong to ISIS cells near Al-Hreiji village in Deir Ezzor.

February 25: Gunmen on motorbikes, believed to be ISIS members, have thrown a hand grenade on the house of an oil investor in Hawayj Zaiban town in Al-Raghib neighbourhood in eastern Deir Ezzor countryside. According to reliable SOHR sources, the attack took place after ISIS members demanded “Zakat” from the owner of the house.

February 26: Members of ISIS cells on a motorcycle opened fire on a checkpoint of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in Abu Hardoub town in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, killing an Asayish member and injuring others, before the attackers escaped.

February 26: ISIS members on motorcycles opened fire on a column of oil trucks near the entrance of Al-Busayrah city in eastern Deir Ezzor, forcing the trucks to stop. SDF-backed security forces were put on high alert after the attack on the convoy which was on its way to Al-Hasakah.

In the past month, SOHR activists also documented the participation of the International Coalition in 11 joint security operations with SDF, namely raids and airdrops, arresting 140 members of ISIS cells.

Also, these operations left seven ISIS members dead, where units of the anti-terrorism forces of SDF, with aerial support from the International Coalition, launched a campaign on February 10, to pursue ISIS cells in the vicinity of Abo Al-Naital village in northern Deir Ezzor countryside, where clashes erupted between them and ISIS members with machineguns, causing the death of a Syrian member and an Iraqi commander of ISIS, coinciding with International Coalition firing flare grenades over the region.

Meanwhile, the International Coalition forces confirmed the death of an ISIS commander called “Ibrahim Al-Qahtany” in an airstrike committed by its forces with participation of anti-terrorism units of SDF, five days after SOHR announced the death of two ISIS commanders, one of which is Syrian and the other is Iraqi, on February 10. It is worth noting that the commander who was targeted was responsible for planning the attacks of prisons and detention centres holding ISIS members within SDF-held areas, where weapons and ammunition were in his possession.

On February 17, an SDF patrol, backed by International Coalition helicopters, stormed a house in the area between Al-Sabha and Ibriha in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, along with blocking roads leading to that area. Via loudspeakers, SDF forces asked the suspect, who was called “Muhannad Al-Saray Al-Fadgham,” to surrender, but he refused. Clashes erupted between the two sides, which led to the death of the suspect. It is worth noting that Al-Fadgham was an ISIS commander, and he had been arrested and released on several occasions.

On the same day, February 17, Coalition Forces and SDF carried out a joint operation, targeting an ISIS commander who was holed up in a house in Al-Hajanah village in the northern countryside of Deir Ezzor. The operation left a commander known as “Hamza Al-Homsy” and his escort dead, while four members of US forces were injured during.

While on February 22, SDF-backed Counter-terrorism Units, backed by Coalition helicopters, stormed a house in Jadid Ekaydat town in the east of Deir Ezzor, searching for ISIS cells. The unites asked ISIS members, via loudspeakers, to surrender, but they resisted, before clashes erupted between both sides, which resulted in the death of two “ISIS” members.

In the Syrian desert, however, ISIS continued its operations in areas under the control of the Syrian regime and its allies, especially in Al-Rasafah desert, the surrounding areas of Jabal Al-Bishri in Al-Raqqah, the frontlines of Ithriyah and other frontlines in the eastern countryside of Hama, the desert of Al-Sukhnah, Palmyra in Homs countryside, Deir Ezzor desert and the administrative border between Al-Raqqah and Deir Ezzor.

According to SOHR sources, ISIS has carried out 17 attacks in the past month, killing 27 regime soldiers and proxy militiamen, including two Iranian-backed militiamen. In addition, 80 civilians were killed in the same period in ISIS attacks in the Syrian desert.

Here is a regional distribution of those attacks:

Deir Ezzor desert: Seven operations left five combatants, including two Iranian-backed militias, dead.

Homs desert: Six operations left 77 civilians, including at least a woman, and 15 combatants dead.

Hama desert: Two operations left three civilians dead.

Al-Raqqah desert: Two operations left seven combatants dead.

Here are further details on ISIS attacks in February:

February 3: A member of the National Defence was killed and another member was injured due to the explosion of a landmine that was likely planted by ISIS cells, in Kabajib area on the road between Damascus and Deir Ezzor in the southern desert.

February 4: Two members of the regime’s National Defence were killed due to the explosion of an IED that was planted by unidentified gunmen, who are believed to belong to ISIS, targeting a military vehicle near Al-Hail oil field eastern of Al-Sokhna area in eastern Homs countryside.

February 5: A regime soldier was killed in an attack by ISIS cells, taking advantage of the foggy weather, on regime positions and members of the National Defence in Palmyra desert in Homs countryside.

February 10: A regime soldier was killed by unidentified gunmen, who are likely to belong to ISIS, in Deir Ezzor.

February 12: ISIS members kidnapped 75 men and women this evening in an area to the east of Palmyra city. According to SOHR sources, the abductees were collecting truffle when they were kidnapped and their vehicles were taken over. SOHR sources confirmed later the death of 16 civilians, including a woman, and three regime soldiers, among those kidnapped by ISIS. While on February 17, ISIS cells released 25 people, who were kidnapped on February 12, while they were collecting truffle in Palmyra area in eastern Homs desert after they were investigated and it was confirmed that they had no connection to regime forces and its militias, while the fate of 34 other people remains unknown.

February 12: A regime soldier was shot dead yesterday by gunmen belonging to ISIS cells, near his house in regime-controlled Saalo village in eastern Deir Ezzor.

February 12: Three regime soldiers sustained various injuries in a landmine explosion which targeted a military vehicle that was carrying them, in Haribsha-Al-Harir desert in the southern Deir Ezzor desert which is under the control of regime forces and Iranian militias.

February 14: A civilian was directly shot dead and another was kidnapped by ISIS members, while the civilians were collecting truffle in Duwaizin area eastern of Okairabat in eastern Aleppo countryside. However, the fate of the kidnapped civilian was revealed.

February 15: Two civilians were killed in an attack executed by “ISIS” cells on a group of truffle pickers in the east of Tel Salmah in the countryside of Oqairabat district in Salamiyah countryside east of Hama. That came in light of “ISIS” exploiting the preoccupation of the international community with the destructive earthquake which hit Syria, to execute attacks through traps and targets.

February 18: The number of civilians killed in the violent attack that was carried out by “ISIS” yesterday raised to 61 persons from Al-Sukhnah area east of Homs, as well as the death of seven members of a regime forces stationed at a checkpoint in Al-Dubayat in Al-Sukhnah countryside in Homs desert. According to sources, ISIS members on motorcycles carried out the attack, ISIS deadliest attack in 2023, using medium and light weapons. The attack targeted truffle pickers and a checkpoint of regime forces, causing the death of 61 civilians, while some have run away, but their fate remains unknown.

February 18: Two members working for Iranian militias from Al-Quriyah city in the east of Deir Ezzor were killed due to the explosion of a landmine planted earlier by ISIS in Deir Ezzor desert.

February 19: Six members of the National Army from Al-Safira area in Aleppo countryside, were killed in an ambush by ISIS cells while collecting truffle in Tuwainan area in Al-Raqqa countryside.

February 21: Two regime soldiers were killed by the explosion of an old landmine in Huraybishah area in Homs desert, while searching for truffle.

February 25: A regime soldier sustained injuries by the explosion of an old landmine planted earlier by ISIS in Deir Ezzor desert. The soldier was taken to a hospital.

February 25: A regime captain was injured in an ambush by ISIS cells in Al-Sokhna desert in eastern Homs countryside, where he was taken to a hospital in Homs.

February 26: Four regime soldiers sustained serious injuries by the explosion of an old landmine, while they were searching for truffle in Al-Zabari desert in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor. The injured soldiers were taken to the military hospital in Deir Ezzor city.

February 27: Residents found the body of a regime soldier who was killed by ISIS cells a few days earlier, while he was picking truffle in the desert of Shuaeib Al-Thekr area west of Al-Tabqah in the western countryside of Al-Raqqah.

Islamic State’s abductees: ignored and unaccounted

Although nearly 47 months have passed since the International Coalition’s announcement of the defeat of ISIS which was a dominant force east of Euphrates River, and with the recent developments over the past period, however, silence still surrounds the issue of ISIS’s abductees. All sides remain quiet and provide no clarification on the fate of thousands of abductees, where fear continues to grow for the lives and fate of the abductees, including Father Paolo Daololio, Bishops John Ibrahim and Paul Yazji, Abdullah Al Khalil, a British journalist, sky News journalist and other journalists, in addition to hundreds of abductees from Ain Al Arab (Kobani) area and Afrin, as well as the people of Deir Ezzor.

With the continuing crimes and violations against Syrian civilians, including death threats against SOHR workers by the Islamic State and other killers and criminals in Syria, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights renews its vows to continue its work by monitoring, documenting and publishing all violations and crimes that committed against the Syrian people.

We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, renew our call to the UN Security Council to refer those war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria to the International Criminal Court so that all the criminals and killers of the Syrian people are brought to justice.

SOHR has been all along warning against ISIS resurgence and stressing that the defeat of ISIS in Syrian territory, as declared in 2019, was “symbolic”, as ISIS has been only eliminated as a controlling power in populated areas. The daily attacks by ISIS fighters and cells throughout Syria, clearly indicate that the “Islamic State” is still alive and kicking. While the frequent security campaigns and military operations by regime forces, Russia, International Coalition, and SDF have all failed so far to curb or hinder ISIS’s escalating activities.

The Syrian Observatory also points out that it had already warned, well before “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” declared itself as a “Caliphate State” in Syria and Iraq, that this organization did intend to work for the Syrian people and serve their interest, but rather ISIS continued to kill innocent Syrians, who had been suffering the brutality of war and violence and became displaced.

Furthermore, the “Islamic State” recruited children in the so-called “cubs of the caliphate”, controlled the wealth and resources of the Syrian people and harnessed them to build a “caliphate”, and traded openly back and forth with one of Syria’s neighbouring countries.