KUALA LUMPUR: Federal police are bracing themselves for potential lone-wolf attacks by Islamic State supporters in the country, as the terror group’s Southeast Asian branch begins to develop its strength.
Malaysian, Indonesian and Filipino terrorists form the IS lynchpin in this region, and are riding on aggressive terror groups to pursue the IS cause, mainly Abu Sayyaf.
Other terror cells are the Abu Dujana Brigade, Abi Khabib Brigade, the Jund Allah Brigade, and Abi Sadr. They, like Abu Sayyaf, have also pledged their allegiance to IS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Bukit Aman’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD) has the latest propaganda video released by IS, calling on nations to fight governments it has labelled as “Toghut” (sinners/those against the teachings of Allah).
Malaysia has been singled out by the group as a nation that must be fought.
The latest video was released on Tuesday and features the first known Malaysian IS fighter in Syria, who had participated in the group’s propaganda video. The graphic video showed him, along with two IS combatants, decapitating three captives.
SB-CTD chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay told the New Straits Times that the man had been identified as Mohd Rafi Udin from Negri Sembilan.
In the video, Rafi is seen standing alongside Indonesian and Filipino IS fighters as they simultaneously behead three men, whom IS believed were spies. The video also serves as a warning to governments that they said stood in the way of their “jihad”.
The three men in the video, who are strong personalities in IS’s Khatibah Nusantara (the Southeast Asian branch of IS in Syria), also took turns to address IS supporters in their home countries.
“Targeted attacks will likely be carried out the minute the pledge of allegiance to IS from these groups outside Syria is accepted and the areas they operate in are declared theirs,” said Ayob.
“We are preparing for potential attacks within six months by two sources, Khatibah Nusantara in the Philippines, and central IS,” he said, adding that IS had begun to shift its focus to this region, partly to prove that it was still a potent force, capable of coordinating and launching attacks despite the onslaught by Western military forces and those loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Ayob said Rafi was among the Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malaysia (KMM) members who had left Malaysia for Syria in 2014 to fight alongside IS.
Rafi, who also goes by the name Abu Ain, was among the KMM members arrested under the now-defunct Internal Security Act for terror activities.
Many of his comrades have since died. It is understood that Rafi now walks with a limp after his leg was injured in an ambush by Assad’s forces some two years ago.
In his message to IS supporters, Rafi called upon them to use any means to “kill off” non-believers.
He told them that the leader they were to look up to regionally was one Abdallah al-Filipini, from the Philippines, who had been appointed by IS to be the leader for Asia.
“Kill them wherever you meet them... If you have a car, hit them... Use your weapons and knives to stab them in the chest,” he said in the video, adding that he and his friends in Syria would lend them support from afar.
Rafi also issued a threat against federal police, telling them that Malaysian fighters who had left the country for Syria would return to attack the force’s headquarters.
“Those of you in Bukit Aman, you will no longer have peace.
“We will slaughter you... when we return. Our friends back home will hunt you down,” he said.
The Filipino with him, meanwhile, said: “We are slaughtering these murtad (apostates), and tomorrow, our brothers in your land will slaughter you... We will use the language of swords and bullets.
“We will continue to fight and wage war against you, terrorise you and put fear in your hearts.”
Ayob revealed that his division had seen at least two lone-wolf attacks, including one by a 16-year-old student in Sungai Petani, Kedah, recently.
He was armed with a 27cm knife and a fake pistol, and had targeted a 27-year-old sales assistant.
“The boy had received orders from a Malaysian IS senior to carry out the at tack... so he took a knife and tried to kill her just because she is a non-Muslim.
“We also stopped a suspect with two Rambo knives at an LRT station in Jalan Jelatek,” he said, adding that it would be common for attackers now to use traditional weapons instead of guns or bombs.
This, he said, made it easier for them to plan their attacks undetected.
Ayob said his division had crippled nine planned attacks by IS supporters. Three of them were already at the “stage two” planning level, where they were ready to carry out their plans.