Tight controls keep IS threats in check

From the far-flung places of carnage and suffering where Islamic State (IS) terrorists rule with impunity, its nefarious tentacles are trying to reach into our society. However, the authorities have been largely successful in keeping them at bay.
This year saw IS-related activities making headlines on the local scene, with the police assuring the public of their efforts to monitor and counter such threats.
Last October, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that security forces apprehended 137 Malaysians involved with IS, with those arrested said to be either planning to leave the country or provide funds to the group.
Other reports during the year included:
Jan 11: A 16-year-old student from Kedah was arrested after he held a woman at knifepoint in a supermarket in Sungai Petani. He was suspected of being involved with the IS group. The teenager was dressed in black, with an IS-style face mask during the incident.
Jan 15: Police arrested a man at the Jelatek LRT station in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, over suspected links to the IS terror network.
Jan 24: Seven IS militants were detained in a 60-hour operation for preparing to attack strategic locations in Kuala Lumpur. One of them was singled out by the Indonesian militant who masterminded the Jan 14 Jakarta bombings.
March 5: Bukit Aman special branch director Datuk Mohamad Fuzi Harun said 47 Malaysians currently in Syria and Iraq were involved with IS militant groups. They comprised 30 men, nine women and eight children, and were among 72 people who had earlier been linked to IS. Of the 72, 18 were reportedly killed while in Syria, and seven others died as suicide bombers last year. Mohamad Fuzi also said some of those involved in militant activities were arrested and charged in court.
March 24: Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said 15 people, aged between 22 and 49, were detained for IS links. Among them were four women. Police said the suspected militants had planned to launch attacks and tried to obtain chemicals to make bombs, and the four women were planning to go to Syria to join IS.
June 13: The Kuala Lumpur High Court sentenced Mohammad Fauzee Ahmad, 48, to 12 years jail for supporting terrorist activities. The artist went to Syria to capture the regime’s cruelty on canvas but participated in the war instead.
July 23: The federal Special Branch Counter Terrorism division arrested 14 suspected IS militants, including a woman, in raids nationwide. The IGP said the suspects were detained in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Penang and Sabah, between July 14 and 20.
July 25: Jonius Ondie @ Jahali, from Sabah, and Imam Wahyudin Karjono, from Puchong, were charged in the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court with committing a terrorist act by hurling and exploding a hand grenade at Movida Boulevard, Lot G2 & G3, Ground Floor, IOI Boulevard, Jalan Kenari 5, Bandar Puchong Jaya, Puchong, at 2am on June 28. No plea was recorded.
Aug 31: Plans by three suspected IS militants to attack a temple in Batu Caves, an entertainment centre in Kuala Lumpur and several police stations were foiled by the police. They were held after a series of raids by the federal Special Branch Counter Terrorism division in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.
Oct 9: Police arrested 15 Malaysians suspected of terror activities in an operation in several states. The IGP said the suspects, all males, were caught in Selangor, Kelantan, Perak, Kedah, Penang and Sabah and said to be from IS terror cell codenamed “Gagak Hitam”.