MALAYSIA continues to prioritise monitoring extremist and militant groups that exploit religion to justify acts of violence, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay has said, underscoring the threat such groups pose to national security.
He highlighted the success of the Special Branch in detecting and conducting major operations against the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network under the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) since December 2001, which thwarted the organisation’s violent plans in Malaysia.
“JI’s actions, including suicide attacks in Indonesia and planned assaults in Malaysia, clearly pose a threat to national security,” he said.
Ayob explained that the group also sought to overthrow the Malaysian government, which they considered “infidel,” through jihad ‘qital’ or holy war. Such objectives are directly at odds with Malaysia’s core values as a parliamentary democracy that allows citizens to form governments through elections.
“In this context, monitoring extremist or militant groups that exploit religion to justify suicide operations is absolutely necessary,” he stated in a Facebook post.
He added that any ideology contrary to the teachings of Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah must be combated decisively.
Reflecting on past operations, Ayob said the Special Branch’s December 2001 operation successfully mapped the regional structure of JI, which advocates establishing an Islamic state, or ‘Daulah Islamiah,’ encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Philippines, and Australia.
“To achieve their objectives, JI sanctioned violent acts, including suicide attacks, to overthrow governments in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, which they view as secular and un-Islamic,” he noted.
He further emphasised JI members’ commitment to martyrdom, citing successful suicide attacks in Indonesia: Bali in October 2002, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in 2003, the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in 2004, Bali II in 2005, church bombings in Surabaya in 2018, and several subsequent suicide attacks.
Beyond attacks in Indonesia, Malaysian JI operatives were also implicated in plans targeting the Immigration Centre in Woodland, Singapore, and several key locations in the Klang Valley.
Ayob revealed that five Malaysian JI members had been selected by Al-Qaeda to carry out suicide attacks in the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Between 2000 and 2025, Indonesia experienced nine suicide bombings involving terrorist groups such as JI and Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). These attacks involved 32 suicide bombers, resulting in 296 fatalities and more than 976 injuries.
“Militant groups, particularly Al-Qaeda and its affiliates such as JI, often frame suicide attacks as istishhadiyyah, or acts of dying in the path of Allah,” Ayob said.
He noted that suicide attacks are not exclusively motivated by religion; they are also employed by Marxist, secular, nationalist, anarchist groups, and sometimes even states during warfare, citing Japanese kamikaze pilots during the Pearl Harbour attack in April 1945 and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka.
“All planned suicide attacks, whether in the US or Malaysia, were successfully foiled after key JI operatives, including suicide cell members, were arrested by the Special Branch under the ISA beginning 9 December 2001,” he added. - January 13, 2026
