ISIS and coronavirus: Will terrorists exploit COVID-19?

The coronavirus is generally held to represent a common threat to all nations and communities. It does not differentiate according to religion, ethnicity or national origin. The pandemic has even produced examples of enemies working together against the new invisible foe. Medical personnel from Hamas-controlled Gaza, for example, have traveled to Israeli hospitals to learn techniques for treating those infected.

But the virus, and more specifically the general focus on it, also offer an opportunity to any organization seeking to exploit the short-term distraction of its enemies.

Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS, lacks administrative control of any territory. But across a broad swath of Iraq and Syria, ISIS retains networks of support, and lines of communication and supply. Somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 members of the group remain active in this area. There is no shortage of either money or weaponry.