US Military Fears Coronavirus Could Help ISIS Recover in NE Syria

Prison riots are a potential recruiting opportunity

US military officials engaged in NE Syria, where a small number of US troops remain to control oilfields, are warning that the mounting coronavirus crisis in Syria could be exploited by ISIS remnants in the area to recover to an operational state.

Coronavirus is just staring to hit Syria, and a lot of nations are sending aid to the war-torn nation to try to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. It’s more the usual incidents that the military is worried about than anything special to Syria.

The pandemic is fueling prison riots in a lot of places, and in Syria, officials say ISIS might well use these riots, and their existing presence inside those prisons, as an opportunity to recruit desperate people in a way they haven’t had an opportunity to in some time.

ISIS had a massive presence in Syria, and while the group still has followers, it’s lost all its territory. Syria’s war still leaves it very unstable, and if ISIS got some new recruits it might well be able to carve out some new territory for itself.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.