Evidence gathered so far of Malaysian involvement in the Islamic State (IS) has led the police to believe that attacks by the group on Malaysian soil is imminent, Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism director Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin said today.
In a special briefing on the threats of the IS and Islamic extremism in the country, SAC Ayub said police intelligence have indicated that it “was just a matter of time” before an attack is launched.
“It is not a matter of if we will be attacked but when,” he told the executive briefing.
The counter-terrorism director also revealed that Malaysian IS members have made direct threats to attack Malaysia, including plans to bomb entertainment spots as part of its plan to “punish” Malaysia for being an “apostate” country.
“They view us as apostates. First they deem us bidaah (deviant), then they say we are apostates and then then next thing is to say our blood is halal,” Ayub revealed.
He said one such plan was uncovered by the police last April.
Ayub presented evidence at the briefing to support his claim but the details were barred from public disclosure.
To date, there are an estimated 63 Malaysians in Syria fighting with the IS.
On top of that, as many as 240 Malaysians have been identified and were arrested from 2001 to 2009 for links to Jemaah Islamiyah, a group with an extensive network in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Southern Philippines that has professed support for the IS.
“And these groups have already announced a few times that they will launch an attack on Malaysia and we have so far been lucky that no lives are lost as yet,” the counter-terrorism director said.
Ayub later said Malaysians are drawn to the IS ideology that those who fight with them are guaranteed a place in “jannah” (heaven) and that those who go against them are considered as apostates that Islam ordains to kill.
He added that this has driven them to believe that their own country is a part of an international conspiracy by infidels bent on preventing the rise of the Islamic caliphate as supposedly promised by Prophet Muhammad.
“They really view us as infidels. And they believe that as infidels, we deserved to be sembelih(decapitated),” he said, pointing to one Facebook threat made by a Malaysian IS member who said that he would not hesitate to murder his own family members if they too supported the government’s fight against the IS.
Ayub said such threats necessitate stronger laws and he voiced his support for the recently-tabled Prevention of the Terrorism Act, a controversial law that allows for preventive detention.
“But if you think it’s not necessary then we cannot do anything… look at the evidence and good luck to Malaysia,” he said sarcastically.
Ayub added, however, that although the authorities need stronger laws to deal with the IS, the most effective weapon to battle them is the role of Islamic agencies in educating Muslims about the threat of Islamic extremism.
“Remember this is an ideological war. What the police can do is only fight this problem at the upper end of it, the root cause is ideological,” he said.
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