Norway’s top military official in Iraq says virus helps ISIS
By The Associated Press
An Iraqi fighter with the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces) inspects the site of the Islamic State group attack a day earlier on a unit of the paramilitary force in Mukaishefah on May 3, 2020. (Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Islamic State militants hide in sparsely populated farmlands in Iraq from where they stage attacks on Iraqi forces scrambling to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country, the head of the 70-man Norwegian contingent in this Mideast nation was quoted as saying Wednesday.
Iraq is not just facing the global pandemic but also a resurgence of attacks by the Islamic State group and a financial crunch as oil prices plummet to historic lows — a crisis for a nation depending on crude exports to fund 90 percent of its state expenditures.
The militants “reside in agricultural areas and are thus not particularly susceptible to the virus infection,” Lt. Col. Stein Grongstad told Norway’s VG newspaper. In recent weeks, they have been targeting Iraqi forces “that are not currently coordinated to the same extent as before the virus struck.”
Army Lt. Gen Pat White explained to reporters Friday that curfews in Iraq may have actually had a negative impact on ISIS fighters and their ability to launch attacks. The curfews “constrained the ability of an adversary to move above ground,” he said.
The assessment is in line with Associated Press reporting that the militant group is taking advantage of governments absorbed in tackling the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing slide into economic chaos to stage more brazen attacks across Iraq and Syria.
In Iraq, the militants are also exploiting security gaps coinciding with a pullout of U.S.-led coalition forces from bases in western Iraq, Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces in line with a drawdown conceived in December.
Norwegian soldiers of the outgoing Norwegian ROTO 5 Battalion conduct a transfer of authority ceremony with the incoming ROTO 6 Battalion at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Feb. 15, 2020. (Spc. Derek Mustard/Army)
Grongstad described the situation as a “paradox,” that at a time when the world is grappling with the pandemic, ISIS attacks are on the rise.
“The Islamic State group has been moving the fighting from Syria to Iraq ... (and ) is strengthening, both financially and militarily,” he said.
Since 2017, a Norwegian contingent has been based in western Iraq’s vast and mostly desert Anbar province, where it trains and advises Iraqi security forces.
Iraq has reported over 2,700 cases of coronavirus infections, including 109 deaths.
Under the new guidance, pregnant airmen will be given a general 30-day profile that only documents mobility, duty and fitness requirements restrictions.
Drone strikes have also been relatively effective at limiting collateral damage compared to other strike options—reducing deaths among both civilians on the ground as well as U.S. servicemembers who might otherwise take part in a ground raid. Needless to say, a more precise missile will only serve to keep lowering civilian casualties.
“You are using the military to create fear in the minds of the people," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley wrote in a never-sent resignation letter.