KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Malaysia’s counter-terrorism authorities believe Indonesian militants with links to the Islamic State (IS) network in Syria have been ordering attacks on select targets within the country.
Bukit Aman’s Counter-Terrorism principal assistant director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay named three Indonesians whom he suspects of galvanising Malaysian IS sympathisers to perpetrate attacks on certain Western interests, the government and the country’s security forces, The Star reported today.
According to the report, the three Indonesians are: Bahrum Shah, Bahrun Naim and Abu Jandal.
Ayob Khan feared that regional attacks may intensify in the short term, which he attributed to a terror campaign financed from outside the country.
“When you have funds you can launch attacks on a big scale. If you look at al-Qaeda previously, the money that came into Malaysia from Afghanistan was used to finance the Bali bombings.
“If money comes in from Syria, in the short-term, they will launch a big attack. That is what we are worried about. We have to cut their channels,” he was quoted saying.
Ayob Khan was also reported saying that of 13 failed terror plots in Kuala Lumpur hatched by the IS, seven were masterminded by cells in Syria.
IS-linked militants were said to be behind the June 28 Movida pub grenade blast in Puchong, Selangor that injured eight patrons.
The police previously suspected Malaysian IS sympathisers were receiving attack orders from Kedah-born Muhamad Wandy Mohamed Jedi who had left to join the fight in Syria.
Ayob Khan was a keynote speaker at the IACSP Asean Security Symposium held here today.
The Jakarta Post previously reported Bahrum to be the commander of Katibah Nusantara, a regional cell comprising Indonesian and Malaysian IS fighters formed in the late 2014.
