The spread Analysis of the “Islamic State” in the world During July 2024

Dr. Marwan Shehadeh

𝘼𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨:

The Islamic State (IS) has carried out 1258 attacks and operations in 12 countries, primarily targeting infidels, crusaders, apostates, and Shiites. The largest attack was carried out by Oman citizens, possibly Yemenis from the Arabian Peninsula. The IS also targeted the “Koutoukali” prison in Niger, freeing detainees and taking control of a weapons store. The number of victims increased due to clashes targeting members of the “Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin” (JNIM), which the IS continues to target armed Islamic groups under the pretext of not pledging allegiance to the organization’s leader. The total human and material losses were significant.

𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚:

Dr. Marwan Shehadeh

This analysis monitors the size of military operations and the number of victims of attacks carried out by the Islamic State organization in a number of countries; The analysis process was based on collecting statistical information published in the weekly Al-Naba newspaper during the month of July, because it shows the size of the security and military activity carried out by the organization in the cities and governorates of those countries, and in most cases we are not able to verify the accuracy of what the organization publishes in its military statements.

However; It can be said that the statistics for the number of operations and the size of material and human losses are very close to the truth, and sometimes the numbers of material losses are exaggerated by the organization, and this is normal for armed groups, so it is possible to infer from these numbers the effectiveness of the organization and the limits of its spread in the world from those indicators that we count.

Here we must point out that the process of obtaining issues of Al-Nabaa newspaper, which the “IS” publishes weekly, has become increasingly difficult due to the security campaigns that have targeted some of those working in the publishing field, and this process or campaign is still ongoing.

We have limited our sample of Al-Nabaa weekly newspaper issues to five issues during the month of May, starting with issue No. (450) and ending with issue No. (453).

Issue (451) of Al-Nabaa newspaper included data journalism –info graphics – that contained a complete statistic of the number of attacks by the organization in the world and the areas in which it carried out its operations, as well as the number of victims who fell in those attacks.

This infographic release includes the size of the attacks, the number of dead and wounded, as well as some of the methods used in military operations, the size and types of spoils controlled by the organization, and an indication of the geographical locations targeted by the attacks. The elements of the “Islamic State” organization carried out, as shown in the press release, (1258) attacks and operations, which varied between (90) assassinations, (14) immersion operations, (12) parked, i.e. a car bomb or side mine, and (177) other operations, including (612) assaults and clashes, (255) explosive devices, and (92) ambushes.

(54) prisoners were captured, (3) drones and one helicopter were shot down.

These attacks left about (5909) people dead and wounded, (371) vehicles destroyed and damaged, (1565) homes and farms burned, (46) military barracks and security centers.

The largest attack carried out by the “Islamic State” organization was targeting a mosque in the Omani capital, Muscat, in the Wadi Al-Kabir area, which claimed the lives of (36) people between dead and wounded, including members of the Public Security Forces.

It is noteworthy that those who carried out the attack were citizens of the Sultanate of Oman, as confirmed by the organization’s releases, and it is believed that Yemenis participated in this attack, because the content of the announcement of the affiliations of the perpetrators indicates that they are from the Arabian Peninsula, which includes Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia, according to the organization’s geographical distributions.

The other operation was carried out by the organization’s members by attacking the “Koutoukali” prison in Niger, and they freed dozens of detainees there, and also took control of a weapons store, and during their escape they clashed with military militias that tried to rescue the freed prisoners, inside the territories of Niger and Burkina Faso, but they failed to do so. The number of victims of the clashes in Niger and Burkina Faso increased, due to the attack on the prison on the one hand, and on the other hand the fighting that targeted members of the “Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin” (JNIM), which the “IS” continues to target armed Islamic groups under the pretext of not pledging allegiance to the organization’s leader, and accusing them of apostasy, which is extremism and fanaticism in itself.

Iraq witnessed only one attack during the month of July, and in June it witnessed only two attacks, in the Diyala region.

In Syria, the pace of attacks increased, reaching 13 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 28 people, between dead and wounded, and the highest were those carried out in the city of Hasakah, as usual, targeting the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, followed by the attacks carried out in the city of Raqqa.

The Central African region still ranks first in the size of the organization’s attacks and activities, as the number of attacks reached 25 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 141 people, and the burning of 91 homes.

As for West Africa, the number of attacks reached 36 attacks, resulting in the deaths of 64 people, most of which targeted the Nigerian army.

In the Sahel, the number of attacks reached 9, resulting in (39) deaths, in which the organization targeted elements of the “JNIM” group in Burkina Faso, the Malian army, and the Niger army.

As for the attacks in Mozambique, they amounted to (6) attacks, resulting in the killing of (5) people, and it was noted that the number of attacks decreased compared to previous months.

In Pakistan, there was only one attack targeting what Al-Naba newspaper described as a spy for the Pakistani army, who was killed in the Khyber region.

As for Somalia, Turkey and Russia, they did not witness any attacks in July.

In the Philippines, the Philippine army was attacked and four soldiers were killed in the clash.

The following table and chart show statistics that include the number of attacks and their victims in the countries and cities that witnessed military and security activity by the organization:

The table shows that the human and material losses, according to the infographic statistics published by Al-Naba newspaper in the four issues referred to above, resulted in the killing of (340) people, described as infidels, crusaders, apostates and Shiites, distributed over several regions in the world, most of which were in Africa. For the first time, Oman witnessed an attack by the organization, in which the number of victims exceeded half, and two vehicles were seized. The material losses amounted to the destruction of (12) vehicles, the destruction of (1) one diverse military vehicle, (9) four-wheel drive vehicles, the burning of (91) houses, and the destruction of (2) military armored vehicles.