KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — As the impact of the first confirmed Islamic State (IS) attack in the country hits home, the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) urged families here to keep a stricter watch on their members’ Internet activities, especially the impressionable young.
The non-governmental organisation said it was crucial to strengthen the family institution, following news reports that many of the global terrorist group’s members were brainwashed and recruited through the Internet.
“Therefore, Abim would like to call upon all community members to play a proactive role in their families to monitor their loved ones acceptance level of IS’s extremist teachings,” Abim president Mohamad Raimi Ab Rahim said in a statement, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym.
“In addition, it is also very important to gauge the Internet usage of family members, especially youths, to prevent them from getting influenced by these teachings,” he added.
Mohamad Raimi was weighing in on the first successful IS strike against a local bar in Puchong, Selangor on June 28. The hand-grenade thrown at the Movida bar left eight people wounded.
He noted there have been some 200 people of diverse backgrounds who have been detained for suspected links to IS propaganda, and added that the bulk have been youths.
Police counter-terrorism chief Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay was also reported to have said a whopping 95 per cent of those suspected to be IS members were recruited through social media sites.
Mohamad Raimi said the statistic showed “that it is not impossible for extremist beliefs to slip into our family members thoughts, especially youths who are largely exposed to social media”.
He said Abim set up a task force 2014 to enlighten the public on the issues in Syria and IS via social media and other public platforms.
The police have also arrested 15 Malaysian men aged between 19 and 52 in their counter-terrorism sweep in the immediate aftermath of the Puchong incident.
Malaysian police have stepped up its security monitoring in the wake of the Puchong bar attack and have disclosed they expect the IS to attempt more strikes on home soil in future.
