On 12/2/13, the Star newspaper has published my opinion on new terrorism frontier and I had predicted that the South East Asia will be the next frontier for terrorism, And if this a terrorist attack then all the governments in this region and the West need to collaborate and cooperate to form a task force to overcome this threat in this region.
Herein I republished my opinion for your kind attention.
New terrorism frontier
BEFORE and after the 9/11 attacks and until recently the epicentre of international terrorism was Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Most
of the terrorists were trained and funded to execute so-called attacks
against planned targets. For example, the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The
Algeria hostage crisis has proved that the epicentre of international
terrorism led by Al Qaeda has now shifted from those countries to
Africa.
This is because the relentless operations conducted by United States-led troops to eliminate the threats posed by this group.
The success was evident when Osama Bin Laden was killed by US special forces in 2011.
Further,
the persistence of the West in asking these countries to take
progressive and effective measures put pressure on Al Qaeda to relocate
elsewhere. The most obvious choice was Africa.
The vulnerabilities
in terms of internal problems faced by the regimes of African nations
for instance, Mali and Nigeria, were very much more suitable for Al
Qaeda to recuperate to show to the world that it still existed and was
dangerous.
Furthermore, the money and sympathy of the local people would help Al Qaeda accomplish its missions.
The Algerian crisis is an indicator that the West now has to shift its attention to this region to dismantle the terrorists.
Then the question: Where will the next epicentre of global terrorism be?
Most likely South-east Asia.
This is because the region fulfills all the requirements of Al Qaeda.
Firstly,
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and other affiliated groups of Al Qaeda already
exist and have successfully launched attacks in Bali (2002), Jakarta and
other parts of the region.
Further two suspected terrorists from the region were detained in Lebanon on terrorism charges.
A suspected JI member was killed by the Philippines security forces at the end of last year.
A
few days ago three suspected terrorists were detained by police here
under the new security law (Special Offences (Security Measures) Act
2012).
Secondly, al-Qaeda is well-rooted in this region because
their ideology is well received and has created a substantial number of
sympathisers.
This will allow its operatives to act as “sleepers”
and when the need arises launch attacks, very much similar to the
attacks by the London bombers in 2005. The sympathisers can also be
potential terrorists.
Lastly, finance will be crucial for successful operations. There already exists the mechanism to generate money.
The
money generated by front companies, religious schools, charitable
organisations and criminal activities, for instance, kidnapping by Abu
Sayyaf will help the terrorists generate sufficient funds to plan and
execute terrorist activities in any part of the world.
The
intelligence and security agencies in the region need to beef up and
enhance strategies to curtail and eliminate al-Qaeda and the JI by
cooperating, exchanging information and detaining and imprisoning known
suspected terrorists.
If they fail, then the consequences will be grave.
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