Salafi-Jihadi groups’ response to COVID-19: Daesh, HTS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban

Last week, the Geneva Center for Security Policy organized the fourth of the COVID-19 Webinar Series: Global Crisis, Global Risk and Global Consequences, debating the impact of the pandemic on the terrorist groups. In order to provide a general picture of those groups’ response to Covid-19, I prepared a short presentation underlining the main common elements, but also the particular trends in the terrorist strategy in regard to the current pandemic. Groups from all various ideologic backgrounds have used COVID-19 as a tool to validate their rhetoric and to reinforce hate-speech, directed to certain communities or ethnicities. The extremist propaganda has been empowered by a wide range of disinformation that includes misguiding information, fake news, conspiracy theories and hate-speech content. Moreover, seizing the current vulnerabilities of the governments around the world, most of the groups that were analysed for the enlarged report provided to GCSP (expected to be published in the following weeks) have proven an intensive call for action for the members of sympathizers to conduct attacks. 

Although similar in most of their rhetoric, strategies and means, each group had provided particular responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, based on their capacities and local circumstances. We will further focus on the Salafi-jihadi groups and examples of their response-strategy to Covid-19, based on original documents and social media content that was gathered and analysed together with my fellow colleagues from Terrorism-Joint Analysis Group (GCSP).

The Salafi-jihadi groups’ response to COVID-19 has several main elements that are worth mentioning: reinforcing religious rhetoric (Coronavirus is a "Soldier of Allah", Daesh propaganda material), health (dis)information / advisory (Daesh, al-Qaeda, HTS, the Taliban), calls for action to conduct attacks and free the militants or their families from prisons and camps in Iraq and Syria (Daesh), politicizing the virus (HTS and the Taliban). 

DAESH

Daesh has dedicated already some issues of the weekly magazine Al-Naba to address the current situation and they released a well-documented briefing before many of the governments worldwide had given any information to their own population. In January, Al-Naba reported that “a new disease spreads death and panic” in “communist China”. Initial Daesh-supporting reactions, which came directly before and after the first statement during the epidemic stages of the virus’ spread in China, referred to the disease as a direct punishment to China for its persecution of Uyghur Muslims. On Jan. 27, Daesh-linked Quraysh Media released a poster that depicted a person in a gas mask at the forefront and a city in the background, with English text reading, “China Coronavirus. A promise is a debt that we must not forget.” While the group did not explain what they mean by the “promise,” it is likely referring to revenge for China’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the northwest Xinjiang province, about which jihadists have spread awareness over the past years.

As the virus spread to Iran, the Daesh emphasized that the contagion was an exemplary punishment from God for Shiite Muslim “idolatry”. The rhetorical line developed on COVID-19 has evolved as the virus’s geographic scope and human toll has become clearer. Although perceived as a “soldier of Allah” that came as a punishment for the “infidel governments”, the virus still represents a threat for the Daesh members, and they need to seek help in God to be protected. Apparently, conducting the duty of “jihad” provides them with a protection from the virus. While many group supporters took to Daesh’s initial stance, cautioning against COVID-19 and re-distributing the official decree to guard against transmission, the narrative of the coronavirus as a “Soldier of Allah” persisted as the virus spread throughout the West. On Mar. 9, a user posted photos of West Africa Province fighters as they executed Christians, with accompanying text that stated: “This will be your streets Europe and the US. When the Corona virus weakens your infrastructure and economy…Notice how Corona virus only effects the kuffar, rafidah, and murtadeen!” Also, in another English post on Mar. 12, one jihadist wrote: “coronavirus is healing the hearts of the believers. Alhamdulillah [Praise be to Allah]… Corona is a divine punishment. Look who has been hit the worst, China (Arrogant atheists), Iran (Arrogant shia), & Italy (Arrogant Christians).” Additionally, a Daesh supporter behind the prominent “Greenbirds” group posted an image of the coronavirus with the label, “a soldier of Allah,” and a Qur’anic verse: “And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. (Al-Muddaththir 74:31)”.

Another important element that can be observed in the Daesh’s rhetoric is portraying the COVID-19 pandemic as divine revenge for the Muslim victims of coalition airstrikes in Baghuz, Syria – echoing Daesh’s official stance on the situation as declared in al-Naba 226. In a poster published by the group on March 23^rd, the graphic showed the virus, men hazmat suits, one of them taking the temperature of a person, a person dead on the ground, and the flags of various countries, including USA and Italy, torn. A message in Arabic and English stated: “Corona: It’s the prayer of the people of al Baghuz, whom your burned alive, it has killed you so reap the result of your actions.”

Daesh’s main objective is to sow the seeds of mistrust of government —including by spreading disinformation and malign information —while simultaneously using unfolding events to substantiate their view of the world and validate their predictions. There are three main pillars in Daesh’s propaganda in regards to COVID-19: firstly, the validation of its ideological rhetoric regarding the virus; secondly providing hadith-based information regarding the prevention of contagion with the disease an infographic entitled Shari’a Directives to Deal with Epidemics; thirdly, a call for action to take advantage of the vulnerabilities that many countries are currently facing and conduct attacks ( The Worst Nightmare of the Crusaders) and free the fellow militants, their wives and children that are hold in camps or prisons in Syria and Iraq.  The situation in the camps and Syria and Iraq is actually very fragile, resembling a powder barrel ready to explode at a time where the international community is already weakened by the pandemic and too vulnerable to respond effectively. The virus spreading in the detention camps in Syria and Iraq may be the type of distraction pointed out by Daesh when it urged its members to use the opportunity to work toward freeing fellow militants and their family members in prisons where they "are threatened by disease in addition to subjugation." Freeing any number of them would serve to reinforce their operational capabilities and threaten to undo years of coordinated efforts to contain the militant group. On the other hand, if the conditions in the camps and prisons worsen and the virus gets out of control, leaving those militants or their families to die will only provide further validation to the extremist propaganda.

HTS – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

Another group active in Syria and Idlib’s leading jihadist coalition is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – HTS. The SG’s Health Ministry (the Salvation Government (SG)—the civilian front for HTS) began taking preventive measures earlier and more thoroughly than the Assad regime, including the following: distributing guidance notices to drivers, releasing an informational video and essays by the health minister, drawing cartoons on walls to illustrate virus do’s and don’ts for children, conducting body-temperature checks at border crossings from Turkey, sterilizing schools, mosques, government buildings, and other infrastructure, launching awareness campaign for IDPs in rural Idlib, rural Aleppo, and Turkish-controlled Afrin (where the SG has a minor presence), providing coronavirus lessons to clerics, having doctors and medical college deans hold local forums to explain the SG’s plans (with proper social distancing among attendees), closing down markets, setting up quarantine tents for suspected virus carriers until they can get proper testing Initiating remote schooling via pre-recorded WhatsApp videos (e.g., through its representatives in Turkish-controlled al-Bab). Authorities also created an emergency response committee on March 23 to coordinate across the whole administration, chaired by Abdullah al-Shawi on behalf of the SG president. Ideologically, HTS choosing science over religious directives offers an interesting insight in what is an Islamist group taking a more ‘state like’ approach. In a 4-minute-long report released by ‘News Agency of Shamʼ, a media outlet of the Salvation Government in Idlib, the quasi-state shows its preparations against COVID-19, with preventive quarantine centre, distributing information to local traders, pictures of sanitization efforts and so on. HTS image is that of a more reasonable organisation than even some churches in the US, that have refused to close down in face of the pandemic. At the same time, HTS has suffered from coherence around its messaging with some of its leaders refusing to toe the line and continuing to operate much as before.

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda seemed silent at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, but its news agency — Thabat Media Agency — published an article written by Khalid al-Saba’i entitled “Corona… Doom for the Oppressors and Martyrdom for the Believers”. The piece describes Muslims who have died from the virus as martyrs and calls on Al-Qaeda affiliates to exploit the current situation by carrying out more attacks against their enemies. Al-Saba’i described the novel coronavirus a “soldier” unleashed by Allah on the “sects of disbelief” that will give rise to the “collapse of the polytheists and their guardians.” Acknowledging that Sunni Muslims will also be afflicted by the virus, al-Saba’i declares that those who die of the virus as “Allah has fated” will be “martyrs.” The author also encouraged fighters to maintain jihad and capitalize on the potential devastation of the pandemic to “hammer the final nail in the coffin of falsehood”: “We give glad tidings to Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama’a everywhere, that the collapse of the polytheists and their guardians is coming very soon. So, prepare yourself, O Ummah of Tawhid [monotheism], to hammer the final nail in the coffin of falsehood, and pursue your assault so that the land of Allah will be governed with the rule of Allah. In conclusion, we would like to point out that it is imperative for a Muslim to protect himself, in fear of his being infected with this virus. And if he does, as Allah has fated, and he is infected and dies as a result, he is a martyr, Allah permitting. We ask Allah to protect all the Muslims from this virus”. Alike Daesh, al-Qaeda has used its propaganda materials to call for seizing the opportunity provided by the pandemic and hit when the enemies are most vulnerable.

Thus far, Shabaab is only al-Qaeda branch to comment on the pandemic, with its Shahada News Agency reporting infections in Africa, including in the group’s native Somalia. Abdullah al-Muhaysini, a prominent Syria-based jihadi cleric, released a statement declaring the decision by Muslim countries to close mosques a “mistake.” The cleric stated COVID-19 was created by Allah due to “evil deeds” and “immorality,” criticizing Western perceptions of the virus as “environmental.” He then encouraged Muslims to defy orders to close mosques, calling prayer the only solution to the virus. However, Muhaysini did urge those exhibiting symptoms to stay at home and for those attending prayers at mosques to wear protective gear. As a “compromise,” the cleric offered that some mosque closures would be acceptable: My opinion in regard to closing the mosques for gatherings and groups in the Islamic countries because of Corona! What I think is that this decision is a mistake and should not be obeyed in Muslim countries. This is because the West views the coronavirus in a purely material perspective!! For them, it is the result of complex environmental factors, for which they have no realistic explanation. According to this perspective, the prevention of any groupings is a viable solution because it is cutting off the only reason they have!! As for Muslims, the virus is a material cause, resulting from legitimate facts, and it is a verse from the Lord of the Worlds, to make His worshipers fearful and when (He does not give an affliction except for a sin) and that the (corruption and affliction) appears due to the large number of evil deeds, immorality, the lack of reformers, and being far from the Lord of the Worlds.”

The Taliban / “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA)

The Taliban or “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA), as it calls itself, has proved to be one of the more vocal groups in response to the pandemic. The Taliban issued two statements pertaining to the spread of COVID-19. One directly addressed Iranian leadership and peoples, expressing sympathy for what has been the hardest hit country in the Middle East, and urging the government to observe the “Islamic brotherhood” in its treatment of Afghan refugees. The other called for a religious approach to the treatment of COVID-19 and joined other groups in calling the virus a “decree of Allah.”

Beyond the official statements on the COVID-19 outbreak and urging the Afghan government to protect Taliban prisoners inside of its jails, they have also tried to show more pragmatic steps such as organising camps to treat people in the territories that they control. Taliban images show their members social distancing, while wearing protective clothing and simultaneously maintaining that the pandemic is “sent by Allah because of disobedience and sins of mankind”. The Taliban also announced the establishment of medical centres, including in areas such as Afghanistan’s Paktika province, mere months after the group was blamed for attacking the government run medical centre in the same place. All this posturing, while also looking for help from aid agencies and health workers that previously they targeted, comes alongside them talking about cease-fire in areas it contests with the Afghan government. All of this raises questions about whether their approach in battling COVID-19 is to genuinely setup a health care system or simply a cynical effort to portray the group as doing so.

Conclusion

Terrorist groups have proved once again that they can easily adapt to the context and turn obstacles or threats into opportunities. The propaganda material published by those groups is extremely dangerous, especially now when it can reach a wider audience, isolated at home.