The coronavirus pandemic has created an opening for the Islamic State (IS) and other armed groups to carry out more attacks on Syrian civilians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said today. 

"We are receiving more reports every day of targeted killings and bombings from one end of the country to the other, with many such attacks taking place in populated areas," Michelle Bachelet said in a news release. "The deteriorating situation is a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored."

"Various parties to the conflict in Syria, including [IS], appear to view the global focus on the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to regroup and inflict violence on the population," she said.       

The UN Human Rights Office has documented an uptick in civilian killings across Syria during the month of April, with at least at least 35 deaths due to attacks involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs), compared with seven the month prior. Since the beginning of March, the UN office recorded 33 IED attacks, 26 of which occured in residential areas and seven in markets.