Daish now 'more aggressive' - Malaysian Special Branch

The Counter Terrorism Division of the Special Branch in Bukit Aman has warned that the Daish militant group is getting more aggressive in disseminating its ideology.

Its principal assistant director, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said the group was bent on spreading its form of militancy and terror and recruiting members in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The group had even come up with a Malay language translation of its English digital propaganda magazine, he told Bernama.

Besides, he said, the group was also making use of videos, leaflets and educational training contrary to true Islamic teachings.

Ayob Khan said the contents of the magazine were believed to the work of controversial Turkish ulama Ibnu Taimiyyah who, among other things, labelled followers of Sunnah Wal Jamaah as misguided Muslims.

He said police questioning of arrested Daish suspects and seized books showed that many of them justified their acts of terror by adhering to the extreme views of Ibnu Taimiyyah.

Ayob Khan said that in addressing this matter, the counter terrorism division constantly monitored the distribution of Daish publications and checked their entry into Malaysia.

"The police, with the collaboration of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, will restrict websites that can pose a threat and disseminate this militant ideology," he said.

He said the MCMC had acted swiftly to stop the circulation of a Daish digital newspaper that was also produced in the Malay language.