By Prashanth Parameswaran
The country’s foreign minister warns that the movement’s “evil tentacles” are spreading.
ASEAN and the international community must recognize the grave threat from the Islamic State (IS) and step up efforts to combat it, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said earlier this week according to local media reports.
Speaking at a conference, Anifah said the movement was far more dangerous than any terrorist organization the world had ever faced. He said it enjoyed much more support than Al-Qaeda – which remains a marginal movement – and that it had all the resources of an organized state and was seen by many potential recruits as a “winning team.”
“News of the involvement of the citizens of more than 80 countries in the so-called Islamic State movement, including countries in our region, means that the risk of it spreading its evil tentacles to our part of the neighborhood is very real indeed,” Anifah reportedly said.
He encouraged fellow ASEAN countries and the international community at large to strengthen cooperation to combat the threat.
Read the full story at The Diplomat