Tuesday 19 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): Addressing the extremist ideology embraced by terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh is the key to combatting terrorism, a senior police officer said today. 

“(It) all comes down to the Salafi jihadi ideology,” said Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, principal assistant director at the Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division. 

“If we don’t tackle this ideology, I don’t think we can tackle the terrorism issue right now,” he told a press conference after the launch of the International Association of Counterterrorism and Security Professionals’ Asean Counter Terrorism Symposium.  

Ayob said 95% of Malaysian Daesh — or Islamic State (IS) — members that have been arrested, were recruited into the terrorist group through social media. 

“Most of the IS propaganda is conducted through social media. They disseminate the Salafi jihadi ideology through social media. Indeed, social media plays an important role in propagating and recruiting new IS members,” he said.  

Ayob revealed that his division has successfully foiled 23 terrorist plots in Malaysia since 2012, of which 14 were at the stage of discussions and delegations of tasks, and nine at the stage where chemicals, ammunitions and bomb materials have been procured.  

There have been at least four cases of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas being indoctrinated with elements of IS terrorism in Malaysia, in a bid to be sent back to Myanmar to wage “jihad”, he added.  

“There is always a possibility that this Rohingya people are exposed to Salafi jihadi ideology, [in order] to be recruited and sent to Myanmar to wage the so-called jihad. But we are monitoring this situation very closely and we will take the necessary actions. We will not tolerate any attempt by any foreigner to use Malaysia as a base to conduct attacks against third countries,” he asserted.  

Among issues faced in curtailing foreign terrorist fighters, is a lack of cooperation among counter-terrorism agencies of different countries, Ayob said. 
 
“That is why the sharing of intelligence and sharing of information is very important to make sure that we can detect them (terrorist fighters) when they arrive in Malaysia (and) decide whether we should arrest them and send them back to their country of origin or charge them in Malaysia,” he said. 

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