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Tag: Syria

  • Singaporean Asrul Alias Issued Restriction Order For Terrorism-Related

    Singaporean Asrul Alias Issued Restriction Order For Terrorism-Related

    A Singaporean, Asrul Alias, was issued with a two-year Restriction Order in August after he was found engaging in terrorism-related activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Thursday (Oct 6).

    The 33-year-old was arrested in August under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for investigation into his involvement in terrorism-related activities. He is a supporter of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), MHA said.

    Starting in 2014, Asrul watched online religious sermons by radical preachers, as well as videos that featured ISIS fighters in combat. MHA said he had actively looked up pro-ISIS materials and shared them on social media with the intention of spreading the group’s radical ideology.

    Asrul also showed his support for ISIS by countering criticisms of the group he came across online, the ministry added.

    However, after warnings from a family member and a close friend to stop posting pro-ISIS and pro-militant materials, the technician stopped doing so from late 2015/early 2016. He remained supportive of ISIS though, and continued to consume ISIS-related materials online.

    MHA said that while its investigation showed that he had become radicalised, he was given a Restriction Order instead of being detained as he was “not an imminent security threat”.

    He will undergo religious counselling while on the Restriction Order, the Ministry added.

    In August, MHA announced that four other Singaporeans had been dealt with under the ISA for supporting ISIS. Two were detained under the ISA after they made plans to travel to Syria to fight for the terrorist group, while the other two were issued Restriction Orders.

    In their comments to the media on Thursday, the authorities also stressed the role of the community in countering terrorism. “It is a challenge to detect self-radicalised individuals who have not previously attracted security attention and who are not part of a structured organisation, such as Asrul,” they said in the statement.

    “This is why it is those who are close to the individual – family, friends and colleagues – who are usually better placed to detect signs that the individual has become radicalised. It is critical that they alert the authorities early of such individuals to save them from getting involved in violent activities that could harm themselves and others.”

    SINGAPOREAN WHO FOUGHT IN YEMEN RELEASED FROM DETENTION

    MHA added that Singaporean Mohammad Razif Yahya, who was detained in August 2015 for voluntarily taking up arms in the sectarian conflict in Yemen, has been released from detention this month, and issued with a Suspension Direction (SD).

    Razif’s Order of Detention was suspended after it was assessed that he no longer posed a security threat that required him to be placed in preventive detention, MHA said. Among the conditions of the SD include being prohibited from associating with any militant or terrorist groups or individuals, and he is not allowed to leave the country without the prior written approval of the ISD Director.

    MHA also announced on Thursday that the eight Bangladeshi nationals who were detained for their involvement in the group called the Islamic State in Bangladesh have had their Orders of Detention cancelled.

    Six of them had contributed funds towards the purchase of firearms for the group’s plans in Bangladesh, and were convicted of terrorism financing. They have been sentenced to between two and five years’ jail, and as such, their Orders of Detention have been cancelled, the ministry said.

    The remaining two members, Sohag Ibrahim and Islam Shariful, were repatriated to Bangladesh last month after investigations were completed, it said, adding that Bangladeshi security authorities were apprised of their repatriation.

    MORE THAN 80 DETAINED FOR TERROR-RELATED ACTIVITIES SINCE 2002

    Since 2002, over 80 people have been detained for terrorism-related activities, with 17 currently placed on Orders of Detention, two on Suspension Directions and 25 on Restriction Orders under the ISA, said MHA.

    The Home Affairs Ministry said that it bases what action to take against individuals investigated by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on evidence obtained through investigations and an assessment of the level of the threat.

    “Detention is a last resort to be used only when the threat is imminent,” it said.

    Once an individual is detained, however, he or she will have to go through a “thorough and stringent” process before being released. This factors in progress in the rehabilitation programme as well as the assessments of psychologists, ISD case officers, detention centre wardens and religious counsellors from the Religious Rehabilitation Group, MHA said, adding that those who “no longer pose an imminent threat” will be released.

    “The Government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in any activity in support of terrorism,” it said in the statement.

    “Every member of the public has a responsibility not to engage in such activity, and not support others who do so.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Kanak-Kanak Syria Luah Perasaan Takut Di Twitter

    Kanak-Kanak Syria Luah Perasaan Takut Di Twitter

    SYRIA: Saban hari kita dikhabarkan tentang keadaan menyedihkan di kota Aleppo, Syria, di mana ratusan nyawa yang tidak bersalah terkorban akibat peperangan di sana.

    Lebih menyayat hati, apabila antara nyawa yang terbang melayang di tangan mereka yang tidak bertanggungjawab, adalah kanak-kanak yang tidak berdosa.

    Bagaimana pula perasaan kanak-kanak ini yang setiap hari mendengar bedilan demi bedilan bom dan melihat anggota keluarga serta rakan-rakan mereka mati satu persatu dan hanya menunggu masa, yang entah bila, untuk diri mereka sendiri menjadi mangsa.

    PUNYAI LEBIH 35,000 PENGIKUT

    Bagi Bana Alabed, tujuh tahun, apa yang dilaluinya dikongsi bersama lebih 35,000 pengikut di laman Twitter beliau.

    Baru-baru ini, Bana memuat naik gambar dirinya yang sedang duduk sambil memegang sebuah buku dan boleh dilihat juga anak patung milik beliau berada di sisinya.

    Bersama gambar itu Bana menulis: “Selamat Petang dari Aleppo. Saya sedang membaca untuk melupakan tentang perang.”

    Aleppo, bandar kedua terbesar di Syria, terbahagi dua semasa negara itu berada dalam konflik yang berlarutan.

    Kehidupan seharian para penduduknya, yang terperangkap antara puak pemberontak dengan pasukan-pasukan pemerintah, menjadi satu kesukaran yang terpaksa diharungi, lapor BBC.

    MINTA DIDOAKAN SUPAYA SELAMAT, DAPAT TERUS HIDUP

    Catatan Twitter Bana, dalam bahasa Inggeris dibantu oleh ibu beliau yang merupakan seorang guru, menarik perhatian terhadap kesusahan yang dilalui mereka di Aleppo, kawasan yang dikawal puak pemberontak.

    Salah satu catatan Bana, iaitu sebuah rakaman video, yang menunjukkan beliau bersama dua orang adik-beradik lelakinya, Mohamed, lima tahun dan Noor yang berusia tiga tahun – dengan mesej “Sedang melukis bersama adik-adik sebelum kapal terbang datang. Kami memerlukan keamanan untuk melukis.”

    Menerusi catatan-catatan, gambar dan video yang dimuat naik ke laman Twitter @AlabedBana, warga siber dapat serba-sedikit merasai pengalaman Bana dan keluarganya.

    Malah, ada juga video-video di mana para pengikut boleh mendengar bunyi letupan bom dan Bana atau ibu beliau Cik Fatemah meminta agar didoakan supaya mereka dapat terus hidup dan terselamat.

    Salah satu rakaman video itu menunjukkan Bana berdiri di tepi tingkap sambil menutup telinga dan letupan bom boleh didengar, dengan catatan yang berbunyi: “Saya amat takut saya akan mati malam ini (…) Bom akan membunuh saya – Bana”.

     

    “MENGAPA TIADA ORANG BANTU KITA?”

    Menerusi wawancara bersama BBC, Cik Fatemah berkata, anak perempuan beliau benar-benar mahukan “seluruh dunia mendengar suara kami”.

    “Bana bertanya, ‘Ibu, mengapa tiada orang membantu kita?” kata Cik Fatemah.

    Meskipun sebahagian catatan yang dimuat naik di laman Twitter beliau begitu membimbangkan, Bana seperti sudah lali dengan keadaan itu.

    “Beliau sudah lihat semuanya di sini,” kata Cik Fatemah.

    “Beliau melihat sendiri kawannya terbunuh dan rumah kami dibom. Malah beliau melihat sendiri sekolah beliau hancur akibat bom. Semuanya menjejas beliau,” tambah ibu Bana menerusi panggilan video, yang terputus-putus, bersama BBC.

     

    BEKALAN MAKANAN BERKURANGAN, UBAT HABIS

    Menurut Cik Fatemah, Bana bercita-cita menjadi seorang guru bahasa Inggeris seperti beliau setelah dewasa kelak.

    Namun, beliau sudah tidak ke sekolah sejak tahun lalu meskipun beliau ingin meneruskan persekolahannya.

    Selain itu, Cik Fatemah memberitahu BBC, bahawa keluarga mereka masih dapat memanfaatkan tenaga elektrik menerusi tenaga solar namun khidmat internet dan telefon yang teruk menjadikannya sukar untuk menghubungi mereka.

    Menurut Cik Fatemah, bekalan makanan dan perubatan juga semakin lama semakin berkurangan.

    Baru-baru ini, menurut beliau, anak bongsunya jatuh sakit dan dikejarkan ke hospital.

    Malangnya, mereka diberitahu bahawa bekalan ubat sudah habis.

    Sedang akaun Twitter itu mula meraih jumlah pengikut yang ramai, Cik Fatemah memberitahu BBC bahawa terdapat sesetengah pihak yang menuduh beliau mengendalikan akaun “palsu” atau mempergunakan anak beliau bagi tujuan propaganda.

    Malah, penguasaan bahasa Inggeris Bana turut menjadi persoalan warga siber.

     

    DITUDUH GUNA ANAK BAGI TUJUAN PROPAGANDA

    Cik Fatemah berkongsi bahawa bapa Bana merupakan seorang peguam yang bekerja di sebuah pusat guaman yang terletak di kawasan bandar.

    Cik Fatemah sendiri mempelajari bahasa Inggeris di sebuah institut bahasa selama tiga tahun serta merupakan penuntut jurusan undang-undang di sebuah universiti.

    Beliau sendiri mengajarkan bahasa Inggeris kepada Bana sejak kanak-kanak itu berusia empat tahun.

    Maka, apabila dituduh berbohong beliau menyifatkannya sebagai mengecewakan.

    Semasa wawancara bersama BBC, Cik Fatemah bertanya sama ada wartawan dapat mendengar bunyi ngauman pesawat dari ruang udara mereka, sambil menambah bahawa ia akan berlarutan selama berjam-jam.

    “Mereka akan jatuhkan bom tanpa sebarang perasaan belas.

    “Kami bukan pengganas. Kami bukan ISIS,” tegas beliau. “Kami semua di sini tidak bersalah.”

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Nazem Suki: Pakar-Pakar Penyelidik Dan Golongan Terorisma Dari Golongan Sama Yang Sesat

    Nazem Suki: Pakar-Pakar Penyelidik Dan Golongan Terorisma Dari Golongan Sama Yang Sesat

    Pakar-pakar penyelidik dalam ideologi terorisma juga adalah golongan yang menyelewang dan sesat.

    Apabila golongan teroris memesong salah guna fatwa dan ajaran ulama muktabar untuk kepentingan ideologi terorisma mereka, golongan pakar selidik terorisma juga memesong salah guna fatwa dan ajaran ulama muktabar yang sama untuk melabel ulama tersebut adalah ‘ibu’ ideologi terorisma.

    Maka secara khusus nya, golongan terorisma dan penyelidik terorisma adalah sama dari golongan yang sesat yang parah.

    Mungkin tidak menjadi melampau sekira pakar selidik terorisma ini akan mengatakan Al Quran dan Sunnah adalah ‘ibu’ ideologi terorisma.

    Yang lebih parah ialah pakar ini dilahirkan seorang Muslim, atau hanya Muslim pada nama.

     

    Source: Mohamed Nazem Suki

  • US-Led Forces Strike Syrian Troops, Russia Calls Emergency UN Meeting

    US-Led Forces Strike Syrian Troops, Russia Calls Emergency UN Meeting

    US-led coalition air strikes killed dozens of Syrian soldiers on Saturday (Sept 17), Russia and a monitoring group said, putting a US-Russian brokered ceasefire in jeopardy and prompting Moscow to seek an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

    The United States military said the coalition stopped the air strike against what it had believed to be Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)  positions in north-east Syria after Russia informed it that Syrian military personnel and vehicles may have been hit.

    A US military official said he was “pretty sure” targets mistakenly hit in the coalition strikes were Syrian forces.

    Russia called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council after the air strikes, which allowed ISIS militants to briefly overrun a Syrian army position near Deir al-Zor airport.

    The 15-member body is due to meet behind closed doors at 7.30pm EDT (7.30am on Sunday, Singapore time), diplomats said.

    “We are reaching a really terrifying conclusion for the whole world: That the White House is defending Islamic State. Now there can be no doubts about that,” the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying.

    She said the strikes threatened to undermine the ceasefire in Syria brokered by Russia, which has been aiding Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, and the United States, which has backed some rebel groups.

    The Russian Defence Ministry said US jets had killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in four air strikes by two F-16s and two A-10s coming from the direction of Iraq.

    The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group with contacts across the country, cited a military source at Deir al-Zor airport as saying that at least 80 Syrian soldiers had been killed.

    The ceasefire, which took effect on Monday, is the most significant peacemaking effort in Syria for months but has been undermined by repeated accusations of violations on both sides and by a failure to bring humanitarian aid to besieged areas.

    As well as the US and Russian involvement, Assad is supported by Iran and Arab Shi’ite militias, while Sunni rebels seeking to unseat him are backed by Turkey and Gulf Arab states.

    All those warring parties are also sworn enemies of ISIS, whose territory extends along the Euphrates valley from the Iraqi border, including around Deir al-Zor, up to land near Syria’s frontier with Turkey.

    In its sixth year, the conflict has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, displaced half of Syria’s pre-war population, prompted a refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe and inspired a wave of  Islamic militant attacks across the world.

    Syria’s army said the strikes, which took place at around 5pm (10pm Singapore time) were “conclusive evidence” of US support for ISIS, calling them “dangerous and blatant aggression”.

    The US military said in its statement that Syria was a “complex situation” but that “coalition forces would not intentionally strike a known Syrian military unit”.

    ISIS said via its Amaq news channel it had taken complete control of Jebel Tharda, where the bombed position was located, which would have allowed it to overlook government-held areas of Deir al-Zor.

    The city’s airport and some districts have been entirely surrounded by ISIS since last year, with the airport providing their only external access.

    However, Russia and Syrian state media said the Syrian army later recaptured positions it lost. The Observatory monitoring group said at least 20 ISIS fighters were killed in heavy Russian air strikes during that fighting.

    The incident threatens to undermine not only the ceasefire agreement, but also proposed joint targeting by the United States and Russia of ISIS and some other jihadist groups across Syria.

    SHAKY TRUCE

    Earlier on Saturday, Russia and Syrian rebels cast doubt over the prospects for the increasingly shaky ceasefire, with Moscow saying the situation was worsening and a senior insurgent warning that the truce “will not hold out”.

    While the ceasefire has reduced fighting, some violence has persisted across Syria. Meanwhile, there has been little movement on promised aid deliveries to besieged areas and both sides have accused the other of bad faith.

    Russia’s Defence Ministry said conditions in Syria were deteriorating, adding that it believed the ceasefire had been breached 199 times by rebels and saying the United States would be responsible if it were to collapse.

    After the Deir al-Zor air strike, it said Moscow had told the United States to rein in the Syrian opposition and make sure it did not launch a new offensive, adding that it had told Washington about a concentration of rebels north of Hama.

    Insurgents say they only reluctantly accepted the initial deal, which they believe is skewed against them, because it could relieve the dire humanitarian situation in besieged areas they control, and blamed Russia for undermining the truce.

    “The truce, as we have warned, and we told the (US) State Department – will not hold out,” a senior rebel official in Aleppo said, pointing to the continued presence of a UN aid convoy at the Turkish border awaiting permission to enter.

    Rebels have also accused Russia of using the ceasefire to give the Syrian army and allied Shi’ite militias a chance to regroup and deploy forces ready for their own offensives.

    OVERNIGHT SHELLING

    Both sides have accused the other of being responsible for aid deliveries being stuck far from Aleppo, where army and rebel forces were supposed to pull back from the Castello Road which leads into besieged, insurgent-held eastern districts.

    Russia on Friday said the Syrian army had initially withdrawn but returned to its positions after being fired on by rebels, who in turn say they saw no sign of government forces ever leaving their positions. “There is no change,” said Zakariya Malahifji, an official for a rebel group in Aleppo on Saturday, asked whether there had been any move by the army to withdraw from positions along the road.

    Syria’s government said it was doing all that was necessary for the arrival of aid to those in need it in all parts of the country, particularly to eastern Aleppo.

    Two convoys of aid for Aleppo have been waiting at the Turkish border for days. The UN has said both sides in the war are to blame for the delay of aid to Aleppo, where neither has yet withdrawn from the Castello Road into the city.

    The government said the road was being fired on by rebels, which they deny, so it could not give convoys a guarantee of safety.

    Senior UN officials have accused the government of not providing letters to allow convoys to reach other besieged areas in Syria.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • Indonesia Arrests Top MIT Militant Muhammad Basri

    Indonesia Arrests Top MIT Militant Muhammad Basri

    Indonesian police Wednesday arrested a man they claim took control of the militant group Eastern Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) following the death of leader Santoso, cutting the number of its members at large to a dozen.

    Muhammad Basri, a 41-year-old deputy to Santoso, whose MIT swore allegiance to Islamic State (IS), was caught in Tangkura village in Central Sulawesi province’s Poso Regency along with his wife, Nurmi Orman (also known as Oma), officials said. Police said they also recovered the body of another suspected MIT member.

    Basri’s arrest further weakens MIT, according to terrorism analyst Taufik Andrie.

    “Their movement is already limited, their choices are few because their ammunition is lacking. So it is expected that soon they will be caught dead or alive,” Taufik, executive director of the Institute for International Peacebuilding in Jakarta, told BenarNews.

    Authorities said they captured Basri and his wife, who were on the national police’s most wanted list, soon after discovering the body of a suspected MIT member Andika in a local river. The cause of his death remained unclear.

    “After discovering the body we carried out an investigation at the scene. We found Basri not far from the river and his wife trapped in the river. They were immediately arrested,” provincial police spokesman Hari Suprapto told reporters.

    Police did not release details about how Nurmi was trapped. A homemade bomb was found in a vest that Andika was wearing, and Basri was not armed, police said.

    Another suspect MIT militant, Adji Pandu (alias Suwotono or Subron), was with the group but escaped from a joint security task force, officials said.

    Members of Operation Tinombala, a task force comprising police officers and soldiers and that was set up to hunt down Santoso’s group, are now searching for Adji and the other 11 MIT members who remain at large.

    Hundreds of security personnel have been on the ground in remote Poso regency since January 2015 in two operations code-named Camar Maleo and Tinombala.

    Officers transported Basri and his wife to a military hospital in Palu around 4 p.m. (local time). After arriving, Basri smiled and bowed his head, but did not answer reporters’ questions.

    “Let him go in to be examined first,” Police commander Guruh Arif Darmawan told the journalists.

    Sought in many cases

    Police claim that Basri took the lead of MIT following the death of Santoso on July 18. Until then, Santoso (alias Abu Wardah) was  Indonesia’s most wanted militant.

    According to police, Basri allegedly had roles in 18 criminal cases during his time with MIT.

    “Basri was involved in the mutilation of three schoolgirls in Tentena on Oct. 29, 2005,” Central Sulawesi police chief Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi said recently.

    Born Mohammad Basri bin Baco Sampe, the militant has several aliases including Bagong, Opa and Ayas. Basri left his first wife to join MIT, and later married Nurmi in April 2013. Her first husband was a MIT militant killed in Poso, police said.

    ‘No more blood in Poso’

    In recent weeks, a team of humanitarian workers and human rights activists had joined efforts to persuade the few remaining MIT holdouts  to surrender to the authorities peacefully.

    “By involving family, friends and relatives, this can give a guarantee of safety without involving bloodshed. I think MIT members need to consider the government’s offer,” Taufik said.

    Imdadun Rahmat, the head of National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), traveled to the provincial capital, Palu, two weeks ago to plead to authorities that they treat the remaining militants at large humanely.

    “We continue to support and encourage the government initiative to restore the losses suffered by the community following the conflict in Poso, and urge good treatment of those prisoners who were captured alive,” Imdadun told reporters at the time.

    Rudy, the local police chief, echoed that sentiment.

    “The main point is, no more blood in Poso. We are taking these steps together, prioritizing a persuasive approach,” Rudy said at the time as he called again on the remaining militants to give up.

     

    Source: www.benarnews.org