Terror threat looms in SE Asia<\/p>\n
Shefali Rekhi
\nAsia News Network\/The Straits Times
\nSingapore<\/p>\n
Shadowy armed groups of militants still haunt the Southeast
\nAsian region intent on building a caliphate, four years after the
\nwar against terror commenced globally in the aftermath of the
\nSept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington.<\/p>\n
And despite the arrest of hundreds of militants and jihadist
\nleaders of the region's dreaded al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah
\n(JI) terror group, the threat of an attack still lurks.<\/p>\n
But a large-scale attack seems unlikely, experts say, though
\ntwo of JI's top bombmakers - Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd
\nTop - remain on the run as they are unable to muster adequate
\nsupport.<\/p>\n
Yet, information gleaned from a host of smaller attacks and
\nfoiled bombing plans suggests that the militants are working hard
\nto rebuild their network.<\/p>\n
They are seeking new recruits, working on affiliations with
\nsmaller like-minded groups not linked to them before and sharing
\nbomb-making expertise with militants elsewhere in the region -
\nmainly the Philippines - to make them more lethal.<\/p>\n
Information filtering in from other countries suggests they
\nare also working to improve their finances and mobilizing arms.<\/p>\n
Philippine documents revealed this week that Indonesian
\nmilitants, together with Abu Sayyaf, were soliciting funding from
\nMiddle East financiers.<\/p>\n
The authorities at the Kolkata Port Trust in India last week
\ndetained an arms-laden ship - with 20 tons of explosives - bound
\nfor Indonesia, although it was not clear who the shipment was
\nmeant for.<\/p>\n
The mounting insurgency in southern Thailand is another major
\nsource of worry with experts saying the area could become a
\nmagnet for militants from elsewhere in the region and the Middle
\nEast.<\/p>\n
A string of beheadings in June and 10 remote-controlled
\nbombings thus far indicate that the insurgents in Thai south are
\ntaking lessons from Iraq.<\/p>\n
\"Developments in Iraq remain the biggest concern,\" said
\nSingapore based counter-terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna.<\/p>\n
\"In many of our interviews with militant groups in the region,
\nwe found that they want to go and participate in the ongoing war
\nin Iraq. It is a matter of time...militants from Asia head to
\nIraq,\" he told The Straits Times.<\/p>\n
There is also the fear of a resurgence of the al-Qaeda in
\nAfghanistan with officials in Kabul saying last week that the
\nterror group was pushing for foreign fighters to return to the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
But for countries in Southeast Asia, a bigger concern should
\nbe the fallout from Pakistan's decision to repatriate foreign
\nstudents as part of a continuing crackdown on religious schools,
\nlong seen as the breeding ground for extremism. Students from
\nMalaysia, Indonesia and southern Thailand have been studying at
\nthese schools.<\/p>\n
So has the war on terrorism made any impact?<\/p>\n
Terrorism-watchers are certain it has and is the reason why
\nsecurity within the region is in much better shape today than it
\nwas four years ago.<\/p>\n
\"It has become very difficult for states to sponsor terrorism
\nnow and militants have been deterred from proceeding with many of
\ntheir plans,\" says Ajai Sahni, executive director of the New
\nDelhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/terror-threat-looms-in-se-asia-1447893297",
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