Malaysians returning from terrorist-infested countries must be screened thoroughly

File photo of Royal Malaysian Police counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

30 Dec 2017 05:55PM (Updated: 30 Dec 2017 06:00PM)

Asia Pacific

Islamic State remains the top terror threat for Malaysia in 2018: Police

KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic State (IS) remains the biggest terror threat for Malaysia in 2018 - despite the militant group losing most of its territories in the Middle East - as its ideology continues to attract new recruits, says the Royal Malaysian Police counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay. The sombre assessment comes even as the number of terror suspects arrested in Malaysia for 2017 declined to 105 from 119 in 2016, according to the police.

Malaysia also foiled five terror plots in 2017. This brings the total number of terror plots disrupted by the police from 2012 to 2017 to 19. “I rank Islamic State as the number one threat (for 2018) as its ideology has spread all over the world. Even though they no longer have any territories, they still receive strong support and have many sympathisers,” Ayob, head of Special Branch’s counter-terrorism division, told Channel NewsAsia … for more, go to https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/islamic-state-remains-the-top-terror-threat-for-malaysia-in-2018-9820872

Malaysians returning from terrorist-infested countries must be screened thoroughly

The Malaysian police must act without fear or favour against nationals returning from “sensitive” war-torn countries because it involves national security.

This has become a very urgent matter after a recent defence ministers’ summit revealed that the terrorist threat facing Southeast Asia (SEA) is growing as foreign fighters return to the region.

“The future of our children and country is at stake. We must ensure that Malaysia continues to be a livable and safe country,” Gerakan Deputy Speaker Syed Abdul Razak Alsagoff said.

He said national security could not be compromised in any way or for any reason whatsoever.

“Malaysians returning from terrorist infested countries must be ‘quarantined’ and screened thoroughly to ensure that they are no threat to Malaysians and Malaysia,” he added.

Police officers conducting investigations outside the Movida bar in Puchong, following a grenade attack, on June 28, 2016.PHOTO: REUTERS

One year after first terror attack in Malaysia, a victim remains in anguish

PUBLISHED

JUN 28, 2017, 5:29 PM SGT

PUCHONG - One moment, housewife M. Bavani was sitting beside her husband at Selangor's Movida nightspot to celebrate the second anniversary of their wedding, and the next, they were both covered in blood after Malaysia's first terrorist attack a year ago. Ms Bavani, 33, told her story to the Free Malaysia Today (FMT) news website. She recalled the suffering she and her husband S. Jaiseelan went through following the June 28, 2016, grenade attack by two men on a motorcycle, who had pledged allegiance to terror group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Ms Bavani fractured her right hand. Her husband's right leg was bleeding profusely following the explosion, and doctors found a fracture on the same leg as well … for more, go to http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/one-year-after-first-terror-attack-in-malaysia-a-victim-remains-anguished

Syed Razak, who is Gerakan’s nominee to contest N.37 Bukit Lanjan in the coming 14th General Election (GE14), said: “The moment security enforcement is compromised in any way, public safety may deteriorate until there is no point of return.

“When the rakyat (people) and foreigners lose confidence in our national security, economic misery will start to inflict the country as investors, both local and foreign, flee.

“So, not only the police but all other security enforcement agencies must step up their surveillance on those returning from overseas.”

This is the Reuters report as posted by The Star Online:

"Scale and complexity of terror threat to Southeast Asia growing - ASEAN

WORLD
Tuesday, 6 Feb 2018
7:53 PM MYT
 

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The terrorist threat facing Southeast Asia is growing as foreign fighters return to the region, Southeast Asian defence ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday in which they pledged to improve cooperation to tackle militancy.

Six Southeast Asian nations launched an intelligence pact last month aimed at combating Islamist militants and improving co-operation on security threats, overcoming what analysts described as a high level of distrust. They also pledged to increase cooperation in July.

"We, the Defence Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), note with grave concern the rise of terrorism in our region, perpetrated by individuals and groups with increasingly sophisticated and deadly tactics and weapons," they said at the conclusion of their two-day meeting in Singapore.

"The scale and complexity of the terrorist threat faced by our region continues to grow with the influx of returning foreign terrorist fighters and cross border movement of terrorists."

The push for further regional cooperation comes after insurgents aligned to Islamic State laid siege to the southern Philippine city of Marawi last year.

That battle sparked alarm that as Islamic State suffered reversals in Iraq and Syria, it was seeking to create a stronghold in Southeast Asia, buttressed by fighters returning from the Middle East.

ASEAN consists of Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, and mostly Muslim Malaysia alongside Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Singapore, ranked one of the safest countries in the world, has also been stepping up efforts to deter terrorism in recent years."

N.37 LET BUKIT LANJAN SOAR WITH SYED ABDUL RAZAK ALSAGOFF