Tag: Southeast Asia

ISIS Launches Malay-Language Propaganda Newspaper In Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, July 11 — Terror group Islamic State (IS) is trying to increase its reach in South-east Asia by launching a Malay-language publication for its supporters in the region, according to a Berita Harian (BH) report.

The Malay daily reported today that the publication called Al Fatihin was launched in southern Philippines on June 20, and is being distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, southern Thailand, as well as southern Philippines itself.

An unnamed security expert was quoted saying that the act can be seen as an “unofficial warning” that the Malay archipelago is in IS’s sights.

“This psychological campaign means that the terrorists have a big objective, which is to expand their influence among people who understand the Malay language,” said the source.

“Based on the way the language is used, we believe the writer or editor of the paper may be from this country,” the source added.

Al Fatihin means “The Conqueror” in Arabic.

A paper by the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore last month gave some details on the newspaper’s first issue’s contents.

The 20-page edition focussed on the month of Ramadan and the act of jihad or “holy struggle”, with a three-page message from Egyptian ideologue Abu Hamzah al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, calling on IS fighters to “continue their jihadist activities, search for martyrdom and kill and crucify the polytheists, disbelievers, oppressors and transgressors”.

It also featured Syrian martyr Abu Bilal al-Himshi, and various news excerpts from Raqqa in Syria to the Philippines, information and statistics on military operations, a map of IS provinces across the glove, and alms collection and distribution statistics in Syria.

According to BH, its editor also invited all militant groups in Indonesia and the Philippines to unite and pledge allegiance to IS leader and self-styled caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division senior assistant director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay refused comment on the matter to the daily, claiming the matter was still being investigated.

However he told the daily that IS is believed to be expanding its media arms, in the fields of information technology, audio visual, processing and publishing to maintain its global communications.

“It is proven through the production of their official IS applications including an official ‘live broadcast’ radio from the official IS media centre in Iraq that is broadcasted all over the world,” said Ayub.

Regional security expert Bilveer Singh, an adjunct senior fellow at Centre of Excellence for National Security at RSIS recently warned of possible increase in IS activities in the region as the terrorist organisation has begun losing its hold on territories in Iraq and Syria.

There had been a recent increase of attacks linked to IS globally, including bombings at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, the slaying of hostages in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and in South-east Asia, a suicide bombing in Solo, Indonesia, as well as the grenade attack which injured eight people at a bar in Puchong — reportedly the first in Malaysia linked to the IS.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

July 12, 2016
Political Consultant: Malaysia At Serious Risk Of Attack By ISIS

Malaysia is at serious risk of an attack by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) militants, a political consultant warns.

In a report carried by CNBC, head of Alavan Business Advisory Alastair Newton said security warnings about the terrorist threat in Malaysia “should be taken seriously”.

“It is far from clear where, outside its ‘heartland’, Isis will strike next. But strike it will. And one region which appears to be at serious risk is Southeast Asia,” Newton was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Newton was referring to warnings earlier this year by foreign governments that terrorists were planning attacks in and around Kuala Lumpur, following a series of explosions in Jakarta on January 14 which killed seven.

Australia in February advised its citizens to exercise normal safety precautions across Malaysia, urging them to avoid all travel to the coastal resorts of eastern Sabah, including islands, dive sites and associated tourist facilities because of the high threat of kidnapping.

New Zealand classified travel to the area as “high risk”, while the United Kingdom warned citizens against travel to coastal islands in Sabah, near the Philippines, citing high threats to foreigners of kidnapping and criminality.

In Malaysia, meanwhile, authorities said the country would remain on high security alert after terrorism analysts said Isis was now spreading its operations beyond the Middle East and Europe to Asia.

Security measures were increased in public areas, such as malls and tourist spots, while precautionary measures were said to be taken at border areas to prevent possible terrorist infiltration.

Police have arrested 157 suspected militants, including 25 women since 2013. They were believed to be involved with various levels of militant activities.

The latest was at the end of January, when seven people were picked up in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Johor and Kedah for suspected links with Isis. Police seized a cache of bullets for various types of firearms, including those for the M16 assault rifle.

The three-day operation was a follow-up to the earlier arrest of a man at an LRT station in Kuala Lumpur on January 15.

The seven were said to be planning attacks at several popular spots in the Klang Valley as well as other states. Among those detained was a cell leader, a Sabahan, who works as an assistant manager of a hotel in Johor.

Another suspect arrested in Johor was a 33-year-old factory store supervisor.

One of the seven was also identified as the cell’s fund manager, whose task was to collect and channel funds to those wanting to go to Syria and for carrying out attacks.

The man, aged 50, was arrested in Kedah and had worked as a cendol seller. He was assisted by another detainee, aged 26 from Terengganu, who was planning to join Isis in Syria.

The counter-terrorism unit had also found out that one of those arrested had been in communication with Bahrun Naim, the Indonesian founding member of Khatibah Nusantara Muhammad, and whom Indonesian police said orchestrated the Jakarta attacks on January 14.

Another one of those arrested had been in contact with Malaysian Isis recruiter, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, also known as Abu Hamzah.

Source: www.themalaysianoutsider.com

March 3, 2016
Indonesian Coordinating Minister For Politics, Law and Security: Singapore’s One Aircraft Offer Is “Insulting”

JAKARTA — Singapore’s offer in September of only “one aircraft” to Indonesia to help fight forest fires that have caused thick haze to descend around the region was “insulting”, said Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

Speaking in an interview last Friday (Oct 16) with the country’s Tempo magazine, Mr Luhut defended Indonesia’s perceived tardiness in putting out the fires and in accepting foreign aid.

“During the dry season, peatlands tend to be very flammable. When we bombard the land with water to put out the flames, they just come out again. So I get a headache when people get upset. What are we supposed to do?” he replied when asked why this year’s forest fires are worse than those of last year’s.

“Then someone asks why we didn’t accept the assistance offered earlier. There are many reasons for that. Firstly, we wanted to try and do it on our own. Secondly, we didn’t realise the process would be so long. Thirdly, (Singapore) offered only one aircraft. It was insulting.”

In September, Singapore offered a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations, a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial fire-fighting, and up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry the Singapore Civil Defence Force fire-fighting assistance team.

Mr Luhut’s comments in the latest issue of the magazine came after Indonesia finally accepted help from Singapore on Oct 7 after repeatedly declining offers of help for weeks. Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen had even flown to Jakarta at the end of September to meet his Indonesian counterpart at one of the meetings. During his visit, Dr Ng also met Mr Luhut.

On October 11, aircraft from Singapore and Malaysia began water-bombing missions to put out the raging fires in South Sumatra.

Singapore sent a Republic of Singapore Armed Forces (RSAF) Chinook helicopter with a 5,000-litre heli-bucket and 34 SAF personnel to help fight the ongoing forest fires, together with a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team from the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport SAF and SCDF personnel.

In an interview on Oct 7, Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told CNN Indonesia that Jakarta had earlier rejected Singapore’s offers of assistance because it was concerned that the city state would claim credit for solving the problem, despite being worried about the rapidly deteriorating situation.

In the Tempo interview, Mr Luhut also pledged to confiscate the land and revoke the licences of big companies that practise illegal burning next year.

“This haze problem is also about injustice. When a company controls 2.8 million hectares of land, where is the justice? Then there are those who own 600,000 hectares of land but own not a single fire extinguisher. Should the government be dousing fires all the time? If we call it a national disaster, they will benefit by it.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 22, 2015
Indonesia Finally Takes Up Singapore’s Offer To Fight The Haze

Indonesia has indicated it will now take up Singapore’s offer to help fight the ongoing haze, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Facebook today (Oct 7).

Jakarta had declined Singapore’s assistance package several times since the smog descended last month, saying it has the resources to manage.

But Dr Balakrishnan wrote last night that his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi has now indicated Jakarta will take up the offer following a “good discussion” the pair had this evening. “Good for our countries to work together to resolve this as soon as possible,” he added.

Singapore’s assistance package includes assets and personnel, such as a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations, a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial fire-fighting, and up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry the Singapore Civil Defence Force fire-fighting assistance team. In addition, Singapore also offered to provide high-resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement that the Indonesian government had yet to turn over the names of errant companies suspected of playing a part in causing the haze that has plagued Singapore since last month.

A formal request for the names of these companies was sent to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore, the ministry added.

“This was in response to the request by the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister, Ms Siti Nurbaya Bakar, who had previously said that if Singapore wanted the names of these companies to be officially sent to it, then this had to be done through the Government-to-Government channel,” an MFA spokesperson said.

“We look forward to an early response from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on our requests so that we can take the necessary action against those who are responsible for the haze.” In its note to the Indonesia embassy, Singapore also reiterated its haze assistance.

Air quality and visibility improved significantly today, thanks to rain in the early morning. As at 7pm, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading was 86 to 108, the three-hour PSI was 70 and the one-hour PM2.5 concentration was 22 to 41 microgrammes per cubic metre.

The NEA said prevailing winds are forecast to be weak and to blow from the east or southeast tomorrow, and the 24-hour PSI is expected to improve to the moderate range.

Eight hotspots were detected in Sumatra today, and the NEA attributed the low hotspot count to partial satellite pass, when the orbiting satellite’s field of view covers just part of a region of interest. The agency added that widespread haze continues to persist in parts of Sumatra, and some haze spreading westward from Kalimantan was observed over the sea at the far south of Singapore.

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 8, 2015
IS Uses Malay-Language In Push For New Recruits In Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR — The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group is in an “aggressive mode” in reaching out to Malay-speaking communities by making reading materials in the Malay language more accessible online, a move that could have wide-ranging ramifications for countries in South-east Asia.

The Malaysian authorities say ISIS is spreading its propaganda through more “localised news reports” and “articles” that glorify its fighters, especially those from Malaysia and Indonesia who have travelled to Syria to take up arms with the militant group.

These “articles” are uploaded on ISIS websites in Malay, which also share information on ISIS activities in the provinces they conquered.

One of the websites is a portal containing articles taken from the ISIS magazine Dabiq, which are then translated into Bahasa Indonesia and Malay.

Online recruiters in Malaysia and Indonesia also use forums and blogs to reach out to potential recruits.

Malaysia’s top counter-terrorism official, Mr Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said the ISIS recruiters would include articles on martyrdom and life in the organisation.

“They feed their sympathisers with fairy tales,” said Mr Ayob.

It is understood that there are currently about six to seven ISIS websites, forums and blogs in Malay.

Mr Ayob said these websites use servers abroad to avoid detection from the authorities in both countries.

The ISIS social-media unit has also taken the initiative to include Malay subtitles in its radio programmes broadcast in English and Arabic through ISIS’ official radio station, Bayan, which was made available on YouTube three months ago.

A check on YouTube, which provides access to recorded ISIS radio programmes, showed that Bayan attracts between 700 and 2,000 visitors.

International Islamic University Malaysia’s Political Science and Islamic Studies lecturer Ahmad Muhammady said the emergence of ISIS websites in Malay indicates an “offensive approach” taken by the terror group.

“Before this, they took a ‘defensive approach’, that is to respond to the accusations made against them, and it was done either in Arabic, English or Indonesian. Now, they changed tact,” Mr Ahmad said.

“To me, it is not surprising. Currently, the term ‘jihad media’ (ilami jihadi) is getting popular among the pro-ISIS chatters. This term is coined … to encourage young people to join the ISIS media team to take an offensive approach against their ‘enemies’.”

Last month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told a regional security forum in Singapore that South-east Asia is a key recruitment centre for ISIS.

“ISIS has so many Indonesian and Malaysian fighters that they form them into a unit by themselves — the Katibah Nusantara (Malay Archipelago Combat Unit),” said Mr Lee, who also warned that ISIS could establish a base somewhere in the region and pose a “serious threat to the whole of South-east Asia”.

His remarks followed the recent arrests of two self-radicalised Singaporean youths, including M Arifil Azim Putra Norja’i, 19, who had planned intensively to attack key facilities and assassinate government leaders if he was unable to leave Singapore for Syria.

Mr Ahmad said ISIS’ use of Malay-language materials as a recruitment tool was a worrying development for Malaysia. “Currently, there is an increase in interest among youths in rural areas in the east coast, especially among secondary and college students,” he said.

He said the use of Malay as the medium was all about penetrating deeper into Malaysian society.

“Those who are not educated in English still rely on the Malay website as a source of reference.”

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said so far, no ISIS websites in Malay have been shut down.

Its monitoring and enforcement division head Zulkarnain Mohd Yasin said MCMC was aware of the emergence of the ISIS sites.

“So far, we have not blocked any such website, but we did take down a few videos on YouTube,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 17, 2015