Eight years of Qamishlo massacre.. Reality of ISIS between defeat and revival

 The child Ismail Abdul Karim (11 years old) left the house on the morning of July 27, 2016, to receive a new lesson in his music course, as he loves songs and plays the tanbur. He left the house waiving goodbye that made his mother feel that he would not return again.

Today, July 27, marks the 8th anniversary of the massacre committed by ISIS mercenaries in the western neighborhood of Qamishli, which was carried out by a truck bomb, leading to the martyrdom of 62 civilians and the injury of more than 177 others.

While this massacre refuses to be forgotten, Darya Abdul Salam, the mother of the martyred child Ismail Abdul Karim, recalls what happened that day with bitterness and pain squeezing her heart: “On that day, Ismail woke up at 5:00 in the morning. He was very nervous after hearing a sound from the playground next to our house. When it was time for his musical session, he told me that he was starving. I prepared breakfast for him and then he left the house saying goodbye. He said goodbye to everyone, even his friends in the neighborhood."

She added, "I watched him until he reached the main street, as if I was saying goodbye to him after a few seconds, an explosion heard and black smoke rose and filled the city’s sky.

Darya said “I went quickly to look for my child, but I did not find him the remains of the victims had spread everywhere.”

Ismail martyred in the explosion after he was trapped between the rubble of destroyed houses in the basement of a furniture store due to the pressure of the explosion, he suffered internal bleeding before he was martyred. His mother describes that day as black.

 "It is impossible to forget that day as long as I am alive, ever year the pain is renewed" she added.

In conjunction with the anniversary of the massacre, several security and military reports warned, in addition to the facts, of ISIS's ongoing attempts to return and its growing danger in both Syria and Iraq.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which leads the international coalition to fight ISIS, reported in a statement on July 17, an increase in the number of ISIS mercenary attacks within the two countries in the first half of 2024, compared to previous years.

"From January to June 2024, ISIS claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in Syria and Iraq, the increase in attacks indicates that ISIS is trying to regain its strength after several years of declining capabilities" CENTCOM stated.

Mustafa Mustafa, the researcher at the Euphrates Center for Studies, pointed to the hotbeds of ISIS mercenary activity and the mercenaries' starting points to target other Syrian regions, including the North and East Syria region, which witnessed the end of ISIS's geographical control since 2019.

He pointed out that the growing danger of ISIS mercenaries is in areas controlled by the Damascus government, based on the massacres committed by mercenaries in Badia, which may reach areas of the North and East Syria region, stressing that ISIS's scattered targeting in the region is a result of its growing danger in the Syrian Badia.

In contrast, efforts continue in the North and East Syria region to block the way for its return.

 Observers and specialists in counter-terrorism affairs believe that the operations of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Internal Security Forces in the region, since the beginning of the phase of combating ISIS sleeper cells following the liberation of the town of Baghouz in 2019, have limited the recurrence of scenarios similar to the Qamishli massacre that was committed in 2016. The Internal Security Forces of the North and East Syria managed to dismantle 43 cells of ISIS mercenaries, in addition to 121 explosive devices, including 49 in Jazira Canton, 30 in Raqqa , 17 in Deir ez-Zor, 18 in Tabqa, 2 in Euphrates, and 5 in Manbij Canton. Moreover,  the Syrian Democratic Forces arrested 233 ISIS mercenaries, including leaders, and eliminated 10 other mercenaries, during 28 security operations in the first half of this year in the region of North and East Syria.

There are more than 19,000 ISIS mercenaries, including foreigners, Iraqis, and Syrians, in detention centers inside the region, as well as two camps for ISIS mercenary families that include a large number of mercenary women and children, according to statistics obtained by ANHA agency. Most notably the attack on Al-Sina'a prison in Hasaka in 2022, and the attack on Al-Hol camp in 2023.

That confirms the ongoing efforts of ISIS mercenaries to reach these detention centers and camps is what was indicated by a leader in the Internal Security Forces, Colonel Qahraman Murad, in his statement to ANHA agency, about warnings of ISIS's revival.

Murad indicated that the mercenary cells have not stopped trying to revive themselves and target the security and stability of the region, referring to the attack on Al-Sina'a prison, as well as targeting their security forces' points in Al-Shaddadi.

Qahraman Murad confirmed that ISIS cells are seeking by all means to reach Al-Hol camp, according to the information available to them.

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ANHA