KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic State (IS) group's militant appeal is fanning fears that it could serve as a potent new rallying cry for Southeast Asian extremists who had been largely brought to heel following past deadly terror attacks.
Terrorism analysts are increasingly concerned that these volunteers could import the organisation's violent ideology upon their return, or inspire supporters back home to carry out deadly attacks.
"There are still many breeding grounds for militancy in parts of the region, and if fighters come back they can strengthen these existing groups, and that's going to be a major problem," said Bantarto Bandoro of the Indonesian Defence University.
Already, the Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf has threatened to decapitate a German hostage taken earlier this year, recalling the grisly IS beheadings of foreign journalists and an aid worker that caused worldwide revulsion and triggered US air strikes.
Abu Sayyaf last week demanded a ransom and that Germany cease support for the strikes. The demands have been refused, with Manila dismissing the ultimatum as a cynical ploy to exploit the notoriety of IS for profit.
But the group's actions in Iraq and Syria are drawing troubling comparisons to the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, which drew in volunteer fighters from around the world to fight the Communist "infidels", including from across Southeast Asia.
The hardened militant who returned nurtured a generation of Southeast Asian extremists, helping give rise to groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was responsible for deadly attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
Aggressive Southeast Asian counter-terror efforts have since dramatically weakened JI and other militant groups, but they remain a threat.
Australian police a week earlier had thwarted a plot to take and kill hostages there, arresting 15 people.
Comments
Comments are closed.