April the bloodiest month in northeast Syria due to ISIS's Ramadan campaign: RIC

Since then, there has been a huge increase in ISIS attacks in northeast Syria, Iraq, and other countries.
Special Anti-Terror Forces (HAT) linked to Syrian Kurdish Asayish (Photo: SDF’s Coordination and Military Operations Centre)
Special Anti-Terror Forces (HAT) linked to Syrian Kurdish Asayish (Photo: SDF’s Coordination and Military Operations Centre)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – ISIS carried out 54 sleeper cell attacks across northeast Syria in April, killing 52 and injuring 32 as part of a campaign it launched during Ramadan, according to the latest monthly Rojava Information Centre (RIC) report published on Monday. 

On Apr. 17, ISIS spokesperson Abu Omar al-Muhajir claimed the group would avenge the killing of the previous ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi, who was assassinated in February alongside his spokesperson Abu Hamza al-Qurashi.

Since then, there has been a huge increase in ISIS attacks in northeast Syria, Iraq, and other countries.

Increase in attacks

"Following the spokesperson's statement, North and East Syria saw sleeper cell attacks (in April) rise to 54 – 36 of which were conducted on or after April 17th," read the RIC report. "ISIS claimed over a dozen more attacks, though RIC has not been able to independently verify them, and they are thus not reflected in this report's statistics."

"Of the 18 security forces and 34 civilians killed in April, 16 and 23, respectively, occurred after the campaign's declaration," the report added. "Excluding the January battle in Heseke (Hasakah), this is the highest monthly death toll since RIC began recording these statistics."

ISIS launched a large-scale attack on al-Sina'a prison in late January in an attempt to release the thousands of ISIS militants imprisoned inside. 

Read More: US-led coalition says SDF cleared Hasakah prison from enemy fighters

The report said ISIS has also ramped up its attacks against civilians working for local AANES (Autonomous Administration for Northeast Syria) councils, killing three council members in April alone. 

For instance, seven people were killed and four injured in an ISIS attack in Syria's Abu Khashab in the Deir al-Zor countryside on Apr. 27 during an attack on a tribal leader and former official in the Deir al-Zor Civil Council.

Read More: 7 killed by ISIS attack in Deir al-Zor

Shock over ISIS capacity

Therefore, the increase in attacks shocked observers since many ISIS fighters were killed and arrested during and after the Hasakah prison battle. 

"One reason for this is the perceived diminished capacity to stage such attacks following January's bloody battle in Heseke (Hasakah), in which over 370 ISIS fighters were killed," the RIC said. 

"Additionally, broad-sweeping raids by the SDF and the International Coalition arrested over 200 suspects last month, leading some to believe that ISIS could not possibly possess the manpower to ramp up their operations," it added.

al-Hol

The RIC report also said that nine residents of the notorious al-Hol camp were killed in April, six of whom were Iraqis.  

"This is more than double the casualties of last month (four), though far from the deadliest month in the camp's history," it noted. 

"Despite worrying news about ISIS' shift towards attempting to launch a large-scale assault on the (al-Hol) camp in the aftermath of the failed attack on Sina'a Prison, al-Hol has not seen a major breakdown in internal security. Precisely because camp security is on high alert, ISIS cells inside al-Hol may have less room to maneuver," the report added.

The report underlined that while more than half of the attacks in April transpired in the region of Deir al-Zor, Raqqa and Hasakah also endured more attacks than usual.