INDO-PACIFIC Transnational Terror Cells in OE Watch Commentary: The accompanying passage from the Malaysian website discusses Malaysian authorities’ recent successes in breaking up two transnational terror cells in the country. One of the cells, comprised of two and an Indonesian, was reportedly planning to launch attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia before its members were detained in Kedah and Selangor, Malaysia. Authorities discovered another cell in Terengganu and Klang Valley, which included two Rohingyas from Myanmar among its four members. According to the investigation, a suspect detained in Kedah had participated in bomb-making training in Jogjakarta, Indonesia with Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, an Indonesian extremist religious group. As for the cell involving the two Rohingyas, it was reported that their targets were churches, Hindu and Buddhist places of worship, and entertainment centers; and their intended tactic was suicide bombings. According to the Inspector-General of Police, they supported the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and were exposed to its ideology, although there is no mention of them having trained in Iraq or Syria. These arrests indicate that Malaysia has successfully broken up terrorist cells on its territory. The country is increasingly being used as a transit hub by jihadists in the region, but what made these cases unique is that Malaysia itself was the intended target of attacks. Moreover, the involvement of two Rohingyas in one of the cells could indicate that some members of that ethnic group, having been victimized in Myanmar, could be vulnerable to recruitment by regional jihadist groups. End OE Watch Commentary (Zenn) Royal Malaysian Police Source: Original by Fadzil ShahExtracted into SVG format by khalidrizuan91 via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Royal_Malaysian_Police.svg, Public Domain, CC BY-SA 4

“They are suspected of being involved in supporting ISIS and planning to launch attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia.”

Source: “Polis tangkap 3 lagi suspek pengganas IS (Police arrest 3 more suspected IS terrorists),” malaysiakini.com, 16 May 2019. https:// www.malaysiakini.com/news/476420

Police arrested three more ISIS terrorists who planned to launch attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador reported the three suspects comprised two Malaysians and an Indonesian who were detained in Kedah and Selangor on May 14. “They are suspected of being involved in supporting ISIS and planning to launch attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia,” he said in a statement. The arrest was after an operation that arrested four other suspects, including two Rohingyas in Terengganu and in the Klang Valley between May 5 and 7. Both suspects and the Malaysians arrested on November 22 had undergone bomb-making exercises in Jogjakarta, Indonesia in 2018 under the terrorist group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah Indonesia. While there they learned the methods to produce triacetone triperoxide (a type of chemical), which is used to produce large-scale blasts and vehicle bombs. In addition, a suspect was apparently planning to launch an attack on non-Muslim houses of worship in Malaysia using suicide bombings.

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