KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Islamic State (IS) terrorists are not driven by Islamic ideology and are criminals, said Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad.

“They are just a bunch of criminals ... those people who are deracialised are normal people who do not have a strong religious background,” Jazlan said on the sidelines of the 18th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference here today. 

He told reporters that potential militants were attracted to the message of IS for “a short cut to heaven”.

Nur Jazlan said the Home Ministry was monitoring the regional wing of IS after a video titled ‘Public Message for Malaysia’ was distributed featuring operatives from the militant group Katibah Nusantara speaking under the IS banner in Malay.

“The video is just a threat to scare Malaysians. Do not forget those radicalised may not necessarily do anything. We are targeting to catch those who have been radicalised with an intention to cause harm,” he added.      

He said that one difficulty in tracking down these militants was that they were divided into small groups unlike Jemaah Islamiah and Al-Qaeda.

Nonetheless, the police were doing a good job identifying and arresting IS militants, Nur Jazlan said.

The deputy minister believed that IS did not intend to harm Malaysians and was focused on foreigners and security forces.

“They don’t want to cause harm to the local population. This will be counter-productive to their own struggle. They want to focus on areas where there are a lot of foreigners and where un-Islamic activities thrive and at the same time hurt security forces,” Nur Jazlan said. — Bernama