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Malaysians with IS ties ‘planning attacks over Rohingya issue’

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysians with links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group are planning to engage in “jihad” against the Myanmar government on behalf of the minority Rohingya Muslims, a senior Malaysian police officer said on Monday (Sept 18).

Malaysian counter-terrorism police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said that IS is using the Rohingya humanitarian crisis to recruit new members. Photo: Malay Mail Online

Malaysian counter-terrorism police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said that IS is using the Rohingya humanitarian crisis to recruit new members. Photo: Malay Mail Online

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysians with links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group are planning to engage in “jihad” against the Myanmar government on behalf of the minority Rohingya Muslims, a senior Malaysian police officer said on Monday (Sept 18). 

“We have intelligence that Malaysian IS members are planning to go to Rakhine state,” counter-terrorism police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told TODAY. 

“If we manage to identify them ... we will arrest (them).” 

His comments came on the heels of calls by pro-Islamist groups from Indonesia and Malaysia for sympathisers to mount a jihadist offensive against Myanmar for alleged atrocities against the Rohingyas.

Al Qaeda last week also urged “mujahiddins” (holy warriors) to take up arms to defend the ethnic minority.

Mr Ayob Khan earlier revealed that the IS is using the crisis to recruit new members, noting that shared videos and photographs on social media as well as on mobile communication platforms of the alleged atrocities by Myanmar’s security forces have evoked sympathy.

“Myanmar is closer to Malaysia than Syria and the southern Philippines, where there is an ongoing conflict, and now Rakhine has become their latest destination for ‘jihad’,” national news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.

He revealed that, last week, a 38-year-old chendol seller from Malacca was arrested for promoting militancy by printing and distributing the IS’ flag as well as planning to join the terror group in Rakhine and the Philippines.

Attacks by militants on Myanmar’s police posts and an army base on Aug 25 prompted a military counter-offensive that triggered an exodus of Rohingyas to Bangladesh, adding to the hundreds of thousands already there from previous spasms of conflict.

More than 400,000 Rohingyas — whose population is estimated at around 1.1 million — have fled to Bangladesh to escape the military offensive, putting a huge strain on humanitarian agencies’ operations.

Human-rights monitors and fleeing Rohingyas say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving them out of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are regarded as illegal migrants.

Security analysts told TODAY that Mr Ayob Khan’s relevation is alarming for the region amid governments’ concerns that the ongoing crackdown may spark a militant backlash in South-east Asia.

“There is a danger that the situation in Rakhine will make the territory a hotbed of international terrorist activity, both for the IS and Al Qaeda,” said Mr Jasminder Singh, a senior analyst at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

“In turn, this will have dire security implications for the region, especially when there are already Al Qaeda and IS interests and groups in the region.” 

Mr Singh warned that the danger could be not just attacks in Myanmar, but attacks on its interests in the region, as evident in the past where there were attempts to attack the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta.

If Myanmar does not resolve the crisis peacefully, the region is likely to witness another battlefront amid ongoing conflicts in Southern Thailand and Marawi in the southern Philippines, warned 

Mr Ahmad El-Muhammady, a lecturer of Islamic studies and political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia, who has interviewed militant detainees.

Some Malaysian militants are currently fighting government forces in Marawi, southern Philippines.

Noting that the latest development in Myanmar is “very alarming” for regional security, Mr Ahmad said: “It is not too late for the government of Myanmar to resolve via peaceful means, with the help of regional partners. The region will suffer consequences if this problem is left unsolved, and it might expand to Bangladesh as well.” AGENCIES, WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY EILEEN NG

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