LATELY, the police detained three suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists who planned attacks with grenades or firearms on the eve of Merdeka Day.
The police seized a K75 grenade, CZ 2075 Rami 2 pistol and 24 rounds of 9mm bullets. These militants had received instructions from Mohamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi to launch the attacks.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim, said the terrorists also planned to carry out attacks on Malaysia Day.
Terrorist attacks have been reported in 24 countries and most were inspired or carried out by IS.
IS is not only focusing on establishing a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, but also expanding its sway in other continents.
In the past 2½ years, the number of terrorist attacks inspired by IS have risen considerably.
With substantial terrain in Syria and Iraq under its control, IS is able to convince foreign fighters that it is fighting for a legitimate cause.
Additionally, propaganda tools such as Dabiq (IS magazine), Amaq (IS news outlet) and videos play a crucial role in attracting more people to join IS.
Harry Safro, from Bremen in Germany, was recently interviewed by The New York Times on his experience as a member of the IS elite group known as quwat khas. According to him, this group only admitted single men who would infiltrate cities to carry out attacks.
He said since 2014, IS had instructed sympathisers and supporters who wanted to join the caliphate to return to their homelands.
IS had foreseen that the caliphate would be targeted by coalition forces.
The group’s leadership must have anticipated that they would eventually be defeated by western forces with the help of Russia and Islamic nations. Therefore, they have to continue their evil mission outside the caliphate. The war against non-believers will be non-conventional, i.e. guerilla warfare.
Initially, the primary target locations were in Europe, especially France, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, but it also wanted to extend the offensive to other parts of the world.
The unit which carries out these missions is called Emni. This is the most important unit in IS. It is an intelligence unit which has the dual role of internal police and external operations branch.
Its principal task is to carry out terrorist offensives abroad. The unit is divided into three branches i.e. Europe, Asia and the Arab world. Within this unit, there is an elite commando unit and special forces like Jaysh al-Khalifa (Army of the Caliphate).
The unit also has an extensive propaganda network to promote IS and recruit new members.
It is believed that the unit has sent covert operatives who can form sleeper cells in targeted countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Often, the members of the sleeper cells are new converts or people who are not under the surveillance of intelligence and security forces.
To detect and arrest them is a gargantuan task as they are elusive. Some are member of the security and intelligence forces.
Recently, two security personnel, believed to be, supporters of IS were detained by Malaysian authorities.
Members of the sleeper cells can work as lecturers or traders to hide their identities. They can also be university students.
The authorities need to come up with the right strategies to combat IS and its supporters.
They have to find out why IS is attractive to young people. They have to get the upper hand in terms of technology to counter and kill off IS’s propaganda.
It is not any easy task. Again, the stakeholders of society need to help security and intelligence agencies to overcome this threat.
IS wants to control people. Whoever deals with IS needs to come out from the religious shadows to safeguard humanity.
R. PANEIR SELVAM Chairman, Association of Legal and Policy Researchers, Kuala Lumpur