Malaysia on alert for lone-wolf attacks by ISIS supporters

Malaysian police are bracing themselves for potential lone-wolf attacks by supporters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after the militants issued a threat to Bukit Aman in a propaganda video.

"Those of you in Bukit Aman, you will no longer have peace. We will slaughter you... when we return. Our friends back home will hunt you down," the first known Malaysian ISIS fighter in Syria said in the video released on Tuesday.

In the propaganda video, three South-east Asian ISIS fighters in Syria - the Malaysian, a Filipino and an Indonesian - took turns to urge ISIS supporters in their home countries to stage attacks. The men are understood to belong to ISIS' Khatibah Nusantara division, the South-east Asian branch of ISIS in Syria.

Bukit Aman Special Branch counter-terrorism division chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the police were "preparing for potential attacks within six months by two sources, Khatibah Nusantara in the Philippines, and central IS", using another acronym for ISIS.

"Targeted attacks will likely be carried out the minute the pledge of allegiance to IS from these groups outside Syria is accepted and the areas they operate in are declared theirs," said Datuk Ayob, reported the New Straits Times.

(THE STRAITS TIMES)