This archive report was first published on 21 April 2020.
As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has sounded a warning that the crisis poses a great risk to global peace and security.
Speaking in March 2020, Guterres cautioned that as the international community focuses on battling the pandemic, terrorist groups could see a window of opportunity to strike.
He painted a grim scenario of violent extremists potentially taking advantage of the unpreparedness of many countries in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak to unleash bioterrorism attacks.
Already, extremist groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State (IS), and Taliban have publicly avowed the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to further their extremist agenda.
Groups operating in various parts of Africa have escalated attacks on security and civilian targets, with Boko Haram killing 92 soldiers in Chad, an extremist group linked to IS raiding a port in Mozambique, and an Al Qaeda affiliate killing 29 soldiers in Mali.
Experts caution that extremists could capitalize on the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 and create narratives denouncing the secular state order as ineffective in addressing the needs of vulnerable communities.
Organisations and groups involved in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) should focus their efforts on community awareness and sensitization on violent extremism to target narratives directed at vulnerable groups.
PCVE agenda should be integrated into COVID-19 national response framework, with counties mapping out risk factors that violent extremists may exploit to push their agenda.
Ultimately, all terrorism prevention strategies must begin with the individual, and it is our civic duty to protect our community and country.
