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In early March, as the coronavirus ravaged Europe, ISIS sent an unexpected message to its members.
Taking a security-focused approach, the terrorist group’s al-Naba magazine stopped encouraging attacks against Western countries and instead advised its members not to do so in Europe, which it described as “the country of the epidemic. ” “.
The group also told its followers to “put trust in God and seek refuge in Him from illnesses”, but to also “cover the mouth when yawning and sneezing” and to wash their hands frequently, Politico reports. Terror groups traditionally thrive in areas undergoing disruption and chaos. So how has Isis handled the past eight months?
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For Isis, the deadly virus has “translated into a regional opportunity,” allowing the organization to “expand the rebuilding effort that began last fall and use the coronavirus to spread its own more violent flavor of destruction and terror,” writes Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. . , deputy senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, on NBC News.
While the Taliban have begun photographing their public fitness teams, Isis “has moved the fighting from Syria to Iraq [and] is getting stronger, both financially and militarily,” Stein Grongstad, head of Norwegian forces in Iraq, told the channel. Iraq.
Grongstad described the situation in the Iraq as a “paradox”, one in which Covid-19 was weakening nations just as Isis was regaining strength.
The pandemic has also raised considerations that “Islamic militants [could] win as corrupt, unhelpful and under-resourced governments in Africa and the Middle East fail to provide good enough care to already distrustful populations. “
“Few countries seriously affected by extremism have effective fitness systems,” meaning there is a gap in the public that outfits like ISIS could try to fill, the paper adds. The organization has stepped up efforts to free detainees (pictured) and convert refugees who have found themselves in increasingly desperate conditions due to the pandemic.
Increase in violence
Iraqi army officials told The Associated Press that in 2020 ISIS “moved from local intimidation to more complex attacks. ” Officials attributed the change in tactics to a number of factors, adding “the 50% drop in the number of Iraqi military personnel on duty due to virus prevention measures. “
“Before the emergence of the virus and before the US withdrawal, the constant attacks were negligible, counting once a week,” explained a senior intelligence official. “Security forces attend an average of 20 checkpoints a month,” adds AP.
As western nations have turned their attention towards dealing with the pandemic at home, their eye has been turned from events abroad. The pandemic caused the US-led coalition in Iraq to halt training ahead of a pullout from a number of bases. These areas have seen “a surge in attacks by Isis”, the Guardian notes.
“It is almost certainly correct that Covid-19 will handicap domestic security efforts and international counter-Isis cooperation, allowing the jihadists to better prepare spectacular terror attacks,” said the International Crisis Group. “The pandemic seems likely to make these agile insurgents more dangerous still, as it further slows and weakens local governments and militaries.”
Joe Evans is the global news editor at TheWeek. co. uk. He joined TheWeek. co. uk in 2019 and held roles including associate editor and acting editor-in-chief before taking up his current role in early 2021. He is a regular panelist on The Podcast Week Unwrapped, discussing politics and foreign affairs .
Prior to joining The Week, she worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of reports on Brexit and the Irish border earned him a nomination for the Hostwriter Award in 2019. Before moving to London, she lived and worked in Cambodia, where she directed communications for a non-governmental organization and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. She holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the City of London, University of London and in the past studied English Literature at the University. of Manchester.