Introduction
Last Sunday, Sri Lanka was under siege.
Following a highly coordinated series of terrorist attacks targeting churches
and hotels, more than 300 people were killed leaving nearly 500 injured. This
is the worst terrorist attack aimed at civilians following the end of Sri
Lanka’s civil war in 2009.
In a span of 60 days two deadly terrorist
attacks have transpired at places of worship….New Zealand and Sri Lanka,
totalling hundreds of people. The striking parallel between these two attacks
is the timing and location coupled with the lack of coordination between
intelligence and security agencies. The perpetrators in both attacks chose a
significant day for these religions to carry out their attacks. As I continue
to emphasise, terrorists are elusive by intent. They are unpredictable and
dangerous. They will find the means to execute their ‘mission’ in any way.
According to US intelligence agencies, more
terrorist attacks are believed to follow in the near future. ISIS through their
media outfit Amaq, had declared that their ‘combatants’ had successfully
carried out the attacks in retaliation to the atrocities done against their
‘ummah’ elsewhere.
Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez tweeted
that the terror and barbarity of such attacks will never defeat us while
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan pointed out that the Sri Lanka attacks is an
assault on all of humanity.
Further, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern had stressed that her country rejects all forms of extremism and stands
for freedom of religion and the right to worship safely. She also urged the
world to collectively find the will and answers to end such violence.
Sources from Sri Lanka specify that a
previously unknown religious outfit, the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) has
been implicated as the main perpetrator of these attacks.
This new group is a splinter organisation of
Sri Lanka’s Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ) which shares an allegiance with the Tamil
Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TLTJ). The creation of the NJT resulted from core
religious belief disagreements. While the SLTJ and TLTJ have distanced
themselves from this new group, are there further dissenters within the TLTJ
which could be using their existing network to spread their ideology?
The TLTJ is a non-political religious organisation
from Tamil Nadu, India and they have extended their presence to South Asia,
South East Asia including Malaysia, the Middle East, Australia, Europe and
United States of America. It is unclear if their presence has extended to
Africa.
The question is whether our intelligence
agencies are aware of this group’s activities in Malaysia? Has this group
already established any contact with our people and are playing an active role
in radicalising our people in the name of religion?
It has also had been widely reported that the
NTJ was influenced by a preacher who was identified as Zakir Naik by the Sri
Lankan news media. Interestingly, he had also been indicted for his role as an
inspirational figure for the terrorists who launched the attacks in Dhaka,
Bangladesh in 2016.
One again, it is evidence of the role hate
preachers play in terrorist attacks. They are instrumental and their
significance cannot go unheeded. The role played by Omar Bakri Muhammad,
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa also known as Abu Hamza and Anjem Choudary in instigating
British subjects in the United Kingdom to act against their own people and
country is irrefutable. For these preachers the ideology that they have
subscribed to is more important than the lives of their own civilians which
includes women and children.
The Analysis
From my observations, there are patterns which
have emerged from the terrorist attacks in Christchurch and Sri Lanka.
Firstly, the failure of intelligence and security agencies to circumvent the
attacks even though, as in Sri Lanka’s case, these agencies received credible
information from foreign intelligence agencies. They failed to act on the
information.
Secondly, the growing influence of radical preachers outside their own
boundaries. They are able to incite and encourage their supporters and
sympathisers to launch a terrorist attack in any part of the world without
playing an active role in the operation of these attacks.
Thirdly, the effectiveness of social media in garnering more support and
influencing audiences. In the Christchurch incident, the perpetrator live
streamed his atrocity which was viewed by millions of the people. Most lone
wolves are self-radicalised via social media.
The usage of such media becomes more effective
for these groups in the recruitment and fundraising purposes. There is arguably
less detection by intelligence agencies. ISIS has been notorious in its use of
social media for their propaganda purposes where they recruit supporters,
sympathisers, and members globally.
Fourthly, the terrorist groups like NTJ, Boko Haram, Al Shabab and The Abu
Sayyaf Group (ASG) have shown their allegiance to ISIS but they are not part of
ISIS. There is no longer a requirement to have a structured group to launch any
terrorist attacks. The current attacks indicate that the terrorists want to
operate as a decentralised unit to avoid detection from security and
intelligence agencies. The main purpose of this strategy is to have a
successful terrorist operation like what transpired in the Sri Lanka Easter
Sunday attacks.
Additionally, some of the terrorists or terrorist groups are
on the intelligence agencies radar but are considered a low threat. For
example, NTJ from Sri Lanka and Brenton Harrison Tarrant were little known to
the intelligence agencies in their respective countries. This enabled them to
launch the attacks with great efficiency.
There are no clear indications of whether these
terrorists in Sri Lanka are part of sleeper cells, unknown to the intelligence
and security forces. This is can be a perilous circumstance for security forces
to deal with.
Finally, the gap in countermeasures created inadvertently by the intelligence and
security forces facilitates the terrorist groups’ successful operations. The
9/11 atrocities, Bali Bombings, London Bombings, Paris and Sri Lanka attacks
show that the intelligence and security forces cannot observe suspected
terrorists around the clock. Terrorists are elusive and impulsive. The failure
in cooperation among the intelligence and security agencies within and outside
their borders is seen as a crucial factor in preventing a terrorist attack.
New Development
An alarming development is how terrorist groups
are reverting to conventional methods like suicide bombings and the detonation
of explosives (like IEDs) as a way to launch a terrorist attack. Until
recently, the trend was for terrorist groups to imply unconventional methods
like the use of vehicles, knives and other less obvious weapons to terrorise
and kill civilians as the ‘appropriate’ way to unveil their attacks. That changed
with the recent terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka.
The defeat of ISIS and loss of ‘Caliphate’ as
their territory, has driven terrorist groups to keep their momentum by
‘forcing’ supporters and sympathisers to launch attacks in any part of the
world. While the intelligence and security forces appear to have been focusing
on their unconventional methods of attack, these terror groups have reverted to
their conventional methods of attack by using IEDs and suicide bombers.
For security and intelligence agencies
worldwide, there is no joy or celebration in the defeat of ISIS. This terrorist
group can still inspire their followers, sympathisers, and fighters implicitly.
The Sri Lanka attacks may commence a ‘domino’ effect, encouraging and
motivating their followers worldwide. These may include former occupants of the
caliphate who have returned to their home countries to launch similar kinds of
attacks on their own soil.
The question then arises: Should these
returnees be accepted by their own countries?
President Trump has urged nations to accept
these returnees and have them face criminal charges in their own countries
rather than leaving them stateless. France and Russia have taken this stand
while other countries like Denmark, the UK, and Australia are in favour of
stripping these returnees of their citizenship much to the criticism of human
right groups.
According to the UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid,
his primary task is to protect the Crown and its citizens. He stressed that for
returnees who had grossly acted against the interests of the Crown, the only
option available was the stripping their citizenship as in the case of Shamima
Begum.
There is a raging debate between the rights of
an individual against the interests of a nation. In my opinion, the rights of
all citizens in a nation must be upheld and not fall prey to extremist
mind-sets. If a group or individual’s intention is to destroy the nation and
kill people in order to espouse their ideology, then that person or group must
be removed at all costs.
Conclusion
The face of terrorism has now changed. Most
choose to operate as lone wolves and be part of sleeper cells. They are
self-radicalised. They use social media and other apps to encrypt
communications between themselves without attracting the attention of the
security and intelligence agencies. Therefore, the political leaders of any
country cannot be complacent or confident about the capacity of their own
intelligence and security agencies in tackling issues of terrorism because
terrorists evolve all the time. The eradication of extremist ideology is the
biggest challenge faced by the world now. These terrorists or extremists are
very difficult to reform because they fully subscribe to their ideology.
Terrorism is not exclusive to one religion or
race. For them, their goals are more important than their own blood. They do
not see women, innocent civilians or children who may be their own, but the
accomplishment of their mission as fundamental. Therefore, what strategies and
approaches can be considered appropriate to deal with these kinds of
cold-hearted terrorists?
Do we treat them equally…applying the rule of
law?
These terrorists denounced the rule of law and
proclaimed their way of life and law as supreme.
How should the authorities handle these kinds
of terrorists and extremists?
No religion justifies the killing of innocents.
All religions preach peace and love for mankind. Therefore, governments are
duty bound to protect their innocent citizens rather than weighing the rights
of these terrorists who have complete contempt for the peace and security of
their countries.
© Copyright Reserved. 2019
Authors: R.Paneir Selvam and Gerald Pillai.
This work was published at:-
https://www.voices360.com/community-development/a-look-at-the-sri-lanka-terrorist-attacks-21915163
Republished at:-
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2019/04/26/sri-lanka-and-the-changing-face-of-terrorism/
https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2019/05/485045/return-suicide-bombers
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