For extremists, global virus chaos offers chance

IS, al-Qaeda fighters eye this period to not only get supporters but strike harder

Johannesburg, April 2: Both the Islamic State group and al-Qaida see the Covid-19 as a threat, but some of their fighters also see the upheaval from the pandemic as an opportunity to win over more supporters and strike harder than before.

Messages from the Islamic extremist groups show concern about the virus mixed with bravado, asserting that it is punishment for non-Muslims while also urging followers to repent and take care of themselves. Al-Qaida suggested in a statement that non-Muslims use their time in quarantine to learn about Islam. But in a sharp commentary in its al-Naba newsletter in midMarch, IS urged followers to show no mercy and launch attacks in this time of crisis. In a commentary, the International Crisis Group warned that the pandemic threatens the global solidarity that is key to fighting extremists.

“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,” it said.

Though analysts said it was too soon to say which attacks can be blamed on militants exploiting the Covid-19, Islamic extremists in late March carried out their deadliest assault yet against the military of Chad, a significant contributor to Africa’s growing counterterrorism efforts, killing at least 92 soldiers near the border with Nigeria and Niger.

In Egypt, two military officials reported a spike in IS attacks in March in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula but security forces foiled at least three other major assaults.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

While Syria and Iraq have seen no uptick in attacks by IS since the virus spread there, the pandemic has prompted the US-led coalition to halt training activities in Iraq amid a planned pullout from several bases. There are signs elsewhere that the US, British and other militaries are pulling back because of the virus, leaving a possible opening for the extremists. That’s a danger in Africa’s hot spots of the Sahel, the Lake Chad region and Somalia, where the US military already worried allies in recent months by contemplating cuts to focus on threats from China and Russia.

“Any state that was interested in pulling back in Africa will take the opportunity to do so,” said Clionadh Raleigh, executive director of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, which tracks extremists’ activities worldwide. “That will be unbelievably bad.”

A US Africa Command spokeswoman, Lt. Christina Gibson, said that “while the size and scope of some AFRICOM activities have been adjusted to ensure the safety and protection of forces — both US and partner nation — our commitment to Africa endures.” She did not give details of affected operations but said AFRICOM still has about 5,200 forces on the continent at any given time.

The British army mission in Kenya, which provides counterterrorism training and other skills, this week announced that all army families are returning to the UK because of the virus.