Publications Jihadi Reactions to COVID-19

The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted life all over the planet and impacted nearly every aspect of human life. With national governments thrown into confusion as how to best react to the spread of the virus while keeping up its most central functions, Islamist terrorist militias have taken advantage of the situation.

Terrorist militias around the world (be it the Islamic State, Al Qaeda in East Africa or Al Qaeda Central Command) visibly capitalized on how the pandemic affected the combat readiness of Western security forces. The Islamic State (IS) thus reacted quite early to reports of an outbreak of a disease in China both with increased military and online communication activities.

Rüdiger Lohlker and Nico Prucha examine the communicational ecosystem of jihadists in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Jihadi Reactions to COVID-19