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Not ‘if’ but ‘when’ terror attack strikes Malaysia: Deputy PM
Malaysians must be vigilant in combating the Islamic State (IS) threat, as it is no longer a question of “if” but “when” an attack in the country will take place, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
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A montage of the IS video put out on the Internet, some purportedly showing a child soldier and Malaysian passports being burned. (The Star/-)
Malaysians must be vigilant in combating the Islamic State (IS) threat, as it is no longer a question of “if” but “when” an attack in the country will take place, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“It is no longer a question of if but when a terror attack will happen.
“We have to be alert and we have to be together to make sure our country is safe,” he said at on Thursday.
On suspected IS militants in Malaysian prisons, Ahmad Zahid said the detainees had been isolated to prevent them from influencing other prisoners.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, said there were 261 IS detainees in Malaysia and that police have identified 63 other Malaysians as being currently involved with the terror group in Syria and Iraq.
“I have instructed the prisons director-general to isolate the IS detainees.
“I don’t want them to influence other prisoners,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said that in addition to isolation, efforts were ongoing to deradicalize the militants in order to rehabilitate them.
He said Malaysia was experienced in deradicalization and rehabilitation, stemming from fighting the communist threat since 1948.
“We have a 97 percent success rate in rehabilitation,” he said.
