KUALA LUMPUR – A special branch counter-terrorism division (E8) unit has foiled a man’s attempt to assassinate several leaders in the Pakatan Harapan administration prior to the country being put under lockdown last year.
E8 unit assistant director Azman Omar said the suspect confessed to plotting a “lone wolf” attack to assassinate leaders, such as former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas and former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
“The suspect planned to stab them with a knife.
“We thwarted his attempts in January last year, a few months before the country was put under lockdown,” Azman told an online forum organised by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia today.
During the forum, which discussed threats of extremism and radicalism during the Covid-19 pandemic, Azman said his unit had arrested seven suspects last year, compared with 2019, when more arrests and more than 10 raids were made.
“In 2018, we conducted 109 raids, so numbers do vary.
“Last year, apart from the lone wolf suspect, our unit also detained five men supporting the Islamic State in January, and arrested a man in Singapore in August, with help from Singaporean police.”
However, threats and situations from potential terrorists are currently under control, he added.
“Islamic State sympathisers have become somewhat demotivated following the death of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and many Malaysian fighters in Syria.
“The hype is gone and the mood wiped out with Abu Bakr’s demise. Theirs is a lost cause.”
He also told the forum that 56 Malaysians are currently stranded in Syria.
“They comprise of 19 men, 12 women and 25 children. The men are in two prison camps, while the women are in two refugee or humanitarian camps along with the children.”
According to The Malaysian Insight, efforts to bring home all 56 Malaysians have hit a stumbling block, as those controlling the camps and prisons where they are held are not affiliated with the Syrian government.
Malaysia, too, does not recognise the said group as there are no diplomatic relations established.
Other speakers at the forum include founding IAIS Malaysia chief executive officer Prof Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Nahdlatul Ulama secretary-general KH Yahya Cholil Staquf and Universiti Islam Antarabangsa academic Ahmad El-Muhammady. – The Vibes, March 25, 2021
