Yesterday, yet again two separate car bombs detonated in the predominantly Shiite areas of Baghdad, killing nearly 126 people including 25 children and wounded more than 150 people. Islamic State (IS) has claimed the responsibility for the said attacks.
A day earlier Dhaka was stunned with another deadly attack by IS-inspired local young Bangladeshis who killed 20 hostages and two policemen brutally. Most of their victims were foreigners. These terrorists are willing to die for the cause they believe in by maximising the impact of the attack.
Last Tuesday, Istanbul was under siege. A well-coordinated suicidal attack on the Ataturk Airport by the three suicide bombers had killed 44 people. Even though until this moment no one has taken responsibility, but the United States believed that the attack has the attribution of IS where one of the most feared battalion of IS’ members involvement become clearer.
This battalion uses the method of kamikaze which is known as ‘inghimasi’ to maximise their effect on their victims.
A few days ago, Puchong was under grenade attack. Even though the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) investigating the said attack from various leads, they do not rule out it could be a possible terrorist attack. On June 21, IS has released a video urging its supporters to kill non-Muslim believers in Malaysia. If PDRM has established the Puchong attack was a terrorist attack, then, the threat on the video is tangible.
This means, IS has already landed by launching this attack. Therefore in future more deadly attacks are to come from them.
IS is different from any other known terrorist groups especially from al-Qaeda. They are more violent and willing to kill their own Muslim brothers whether Shiites or Sunnis to achieve their goals. They do not observe the sanctity of the month of Ramadan.
Their victims are men, women and children. They always choose public places like airports, shopping malls, cafes and hotels as their target to terrorise the public. Their victims always will be foreigners. They also have great empathy to publish their brutality on social media to garner more support.
IS’ core strategy is to terrify their opponents by ferocity. By beheading their hostages or burnt them alive demonstrated that they are heartless. Al-Qaeda has used suicide bombers and car bombing as the modes to defeat their opponents and refuse to engage with methods of IS to propagate their cause. That’s doesn’t make al-Qaeda any better than IS and in way both of these groups need to be eliminated fully.
One of the major different between these groups is the use of social media. IS effectively uses social media to spread its concept of ‘war’ and the justifications are always in tow with religion for recruitment purposes. IS is also financially more capable and willing to give salaries and other perks, including foreign and local wives as an inducement to be with them.
Therefore intelligence and security agencies especially PDRM have an enormous task to overcome this threat. Currently, they are doing their job well. Until now, the PDRM have arrested more than 160 suspected IS terrorists or sympathisers in Malaysia. That’s shows that they are ahead of IS.
Even though current methods and strategies are working well for them to prevent such attacks in Malaysia, they cannot use that as a yardstick always. IS is always evolving itself. The intelligence and security agencies need to take the video of IS very seriously.
Impossible to reform terrorists
Terrorism is a means of unconventional warfare. The terrorists like from IS relinquish their humanity in the name of what they believe as their religious duties. They are totally in the wrong. A hardcore terrorist is always a terrorist. It is impossible to reform them. They are the most dangerous people to deal with. For them, human rights are man-made laws and therefore they no need to subscribe to them. Their brutality is the evidence.
Therefore the intelligence and security agencies can take punitive actions against them to deter them to launch such attack in Malaysia.
Even though the US, the UK, France, Belgium, Turkey and Australia have very advanced technology and methods, still deadly attacks have been done by IS successfully by creating fear and killing innocent people. Lack of coordination between domestic and international security agencies is one of the reasons of the said attacks.
Further, the collaboration between the public and agencies can be another method to deter the terrorist to launch the attack. Unfortunately, in most cases the contribution of the public is regarded as less significant.
Recently in New Zealand, 26-year-old Imran Patel was jailed for distributing, possessing and copying IS materials to public. He was the second man to be convicted for such offences in New Zealand. This shows that the incredible influence of IS is not only predominantly in the Middle East countries but is able to spread to Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and America as well.
IS is a global phenomenon. If they influence young New Zealander like Imran, the agencies cannot take the threat lightly at all. Among the persons who are arrested by PDRM were government officers and security personnel, and from all walks of life.
By now, the formation of sleepers cells are factual conceivable. The failed attacks in Sungai Petani, Kedah and Jalan Jelatek’s LRT station by young Malaysians speaks volumes of the imminent attacks that can happen in Malaysia. Therefore the public need to be vigilant all the time and it is impossible for the security forces to safeguard public places like airports, shopping malls, cafes, clubs, international schools, universities and public transportation all the time.
In a nutshell, the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil can be one of the possible targets of IS. For Malaysia, the public have to play a proactive role by informing of any unwanted or suspicious incidents or persons to the authorities as soon as possible to prevent any such attacks occurring here because prevention is always better than cure.
R PANEIR SELVAM is chairperson, Association of Legal and Policy Researchers.
