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| Image: Flickr User - AK Rockefeller |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Defiant video from Malay-speaking wing heightens fears of the group’s threat.
The Malay-speaking wing of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has issued a warning to Malaysia on January 25 as the Southeast Asian state mounts a crackdown against the group and holds an international conference on countering violent extremism.
According to The Star, a Malaysian daily, the Malay unit of ISIS called Katibah Nusantara (Malay Archipelago Combat Unit) – which is estimated to group hundreds of Malaysians and Indonesians – has issued a video in native Bahasa Malaysia entitled “Mesej Awam Kepada Malaysia” (Public Message for Malaysia).
“If you catch us, we will only increase in number but if you let us be, we will be closer to our goal of bringing back the rule of the Khalifah (caliph),” the video warns.
“We will never bow down to the democratic system of governance as we will only follow Allah’s rules,” it adds.
The video comes as Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country, has mounted a crackdown against ISIS following attacks in Jakarta which killed eight – including the four attackers – and injured dozens (See: “Islamic State Attack in Indonesia? A Look at the 2016 Jakarta Bombings”). Experts have been warning that the ISIS is attempting to deepen its reach into Southeast Asia this year, including by establishing distant caliphates in certain Southeast Asian states (See: “Islamic State Eyes Asia Base in 2016 in Philippines, Indonesia”).
Read the full story at The Diplomat