Spotlight on Global Jihad: January 22-28 2015

Spotlight on Global Jihad: January 22-28 2015

זירת הפיגוע במלון בטריפולי שבלוב

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Scene of the shooting attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli
Scene of the shooting attack at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli

Main events of the week

On the morning of January 27, 2015, a shooting attack took place at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, were diplomats, foreign and local government officials and tourists stay. The attack killed at least nine people. ISIS’s branch in Libya (“the province of Tripoli”) claimed responsibility for the attack. This is the first showcase terrorist attack of its kind affiliated with ISIS in Libya and may be an indication of ISIS’s growing terrorist capabilities in Libya.

One of the Japanese hostages, whose photo was circulated by ISIS last week, has been executed. ISIS, which is holding another Japanese hostage, has threatened to execute the other Japanese hostage and the Jordanian pilot if a female terrorist held in Jordan is not released within 24 hours. The terrorist in question is a female suicide bomber who participated in a series of simultaneous terrorist attacks at hotels in Amman, Jordan (2005). Those attacks were masterminded by Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi (the founder of the Al-Qaeda branch in Iraq, from which ISIS emerged).

Kurdish sources reported that the YPG militias have managed to liberate the whole city of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab). ISIS has not commented to date. If this is true, then it is the first practical blow to ISIS of its kind since the coalition airstrikes began, as well as a blow to the organization’s morale.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS continue (separately) to use the media to call on Muslims living in Western countries, especially the coalition countries, to carry out “lone wolf” terrorist attacks on an individual basis. This is presented as a possible alternative for Muslims unable to travel to Syria and Iraq to join jihad.

Main developments in Lebanon – Clashes between ISIS and the Lebanese Army

On January 24, 2015, a Twitter account affiliated with ISIS published a report about a battle that took place on January 23, 2015, in the area of Ras Baalbek between ISIS operatives and Lebanese Army forces (Ras Baalbek is located in the northern Bekaa Valley, north of the Sunni town of Arsal). According to the reports, at least eight Lebanese Army soldiers were killed in the battle and 16 were wounded.

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Other Twitter accounts mentioned higher numbers of Lebanese Army fatalities (Twitter accounts affiliated with ISIS, January 24, 2015).

ISIS is selling fuel oil to residents of southern Syria

In the province of Al-Suwayda, in southern Syria, which is under the control of the Assad regime, there is a growing phenomenon of the sale of primitively refined fuel oil, which comes from the northeast of the country, from oil fields controlled by ISIS. According to reports, there are a number of sales centers for fuel in the province that do not belong to the regime.

The locals call the fuel that is sold “ISIS’s fuel oil”. ISIS takes advantage of the shortage of fuel oil used for heating and sells it to the residents at a discount. Government officials are apparently turning a blind eye to the sale of fuel oil (Syrian Net, January 24, 2015).

While establishing its position in eastern Syria in 2013-2014, ISIS took control of oil fields, gas production facilities and other infrastructure facilities. ISIS now controls most of the oil fields in Syria. ISIS produces oil from the oil fields under its control, using the existing production infrastructure and by means of dozens of makeshift refineries (constituting a target for attacks by the coalition countries). Some of the oil distillates are used by ISIS in the areas under its control and some are exported to the domestic market in Syria, Iraq and the Kurdish Autonomous Region. There have been several reports in the Arab media about implicit understandings that have been reached between ISIS and the Syrian regime, regarding oil smuggling to areas controlled by the Syrian regime. From the perspective of the Syrian regime, this makes it possible to find ad hoc solutions to the fuel shortage in the areas under its control.

Written by: The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center