According to AFP, the advisory cited increased use of “online forums to influence and spread violent extremist narratives and promote violent activity.”
The United States' Department of Homeland Security issued a new terrorism threat advisory on Friday ahead of the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks and amid a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new advisory updated a January alert following the attack on the US Congress by supporters of then-president Donald Trump, when DHS said the country faced “increasingly complex and volatile” threats from anti-government and racially motivated extremists, often stirred up by online influence from abroad.
“Extremists may seek to exploit the emergence of Covid-19 variants by viewing the potential re-establishment of public health restrictions across the United States as a rationale to conduct attacks,” the DHS advisory said, adding that “pandemic-related stressors… may contribute to more violence this year.”
The advisory, which expires on November 11, also noted that in the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , had put out an English-language version of its propaganda “Inspire” magazine for the first time in over four years.