Islamic State tells its members to wash hands frequently and avoid coronavirus-stricken Europe
In a sign it does not have to do more to cause deaths in Europe, the Islamic State (ISIS) is now advising its fighters to steer clear of the continent due to the coronavirus. The latest ISIS-produced al-Naba newsletter has issued “sharia directives” urging its healthy members not to enter “the land of the epidemic” to avoid becoming infected.
But any sick jihadists already in Europe should stay there, the paper reported, supposedly further advising that the “the afflicted should not exit from it”, according to the New York Post. The Sunday Times of London first reported on the newsletter.
The irony, intended or otherwise, is not lost on everyone else, given how the editors of ISIS propaganda normally urge followers to carry out attacks on the West, but have now instead asked them to “stay away from the land of the epidemic” for the time being.
Other jokes online noted that ISIS members can now work from home, the virus kill rate is higher than ISIS’ efforts, and the virus is displacing terrorists’ jobs, besides regular vocations hit by the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
A full-page infographic on the back cover of the newsletter also included a list of pro-tips that instruct militants on how to stop the pandemic’s spread.
ISIS members are advised to “cover the mouth when yawning and sneezing”, and to wash their hands frequently, other than “put trust in God and seek refuge in Him from illnesses”.
Those who believe they might have contracted coronavirus are told to stay away from areas under ISIS control and fulfil the holy “obligation of taking up the causes of protection from illnesses and avoiding them”.
The newsletter instructs jihadists that the “plague” is a “torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills”. The Middle East terror group also advises jihadists to flee from a person infected with the coronavirus “as you flee from the lion”, the Military Times reported.
al-Naba has been reporting on the coronavirus’ spread since the beginning of this year. It first wrote about the “new virus [that] spreads death and terror in China” when Covid-19 first appeared.
Past editions of al-Naba have expressed concern that members of China’s Uyghur Muslim minority could bring the virus into areas under its control. But that line has shifted in the latest newsletter as the spread of the pandemic is portrayed as a problem that is affecting the outside world.
Few cases have been reported in the African countries where the militant group is active. Ongoing wars have made it impossible to determine if the virus has spread to Syria and Yemen.
However, numerous cases have been confirmed in other countries that ISIS claims as part of its caliphate. These places include Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq and the Philippines.
Source: Mothership
