The wives of Islamic State militants at a camp where British Jihadi Bride Shamima Begum was infamously held have claimed that coronavirus is reserved for “infidels”.
Kurdish news outlet Rudaw report that the comments come from the wives of the terror group’s militants in the al-Hol camp in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.
The news outlet report they interviewed several women in the camp, with one saying: “Muslims won’t die of this virus, only infidels will. God has sent his army. This is one of God’s soldiers.”
Her view reflects that of the so-called Islamic State (IS) who see the global pandemic as retribution from God against “crusader nations”.
The group have reportedly urged their members to take advantage of the worldwide attention on coronavirus in their al-Naba newsletter, saying the pandemic is an example of God’s torment and has mainly struck against “idolatrous nations”, according to expert Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi.
Al-Tamimi reported last month that the group said in the newsletter that “the last thing they want today is that this critical time of theirs should coincide with preparations of the soldiers of the Caliphate for new strikes on them, similar to the strikes of Paris, London, Brussels and other places.”
The IS militants are housed in a separate section of the al-Hol camp to internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees, with the camp holding more than 67,000 refugees from around the world.
There have been no cases of COVID-19 in the camp but the medical facilities do not allow staff to carry out tests themselves, they have to send the tests to the Syrian capital Damascus instead.
According to the latest figures from the Johns Hopkins University, Syria has suffered 19 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 2 deaths and 4 recoveries.
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Story By: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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