ICC Note:
It is reported that ISIS have already recruited fighters from China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. According to Singapore’s New Straits Times, Malaysian security authorities have identified four new terror groups that share the same broad goals as ISIS and “may eventually join forces to form an Islamic caliphate to rule parts of Southeast Asia.
09/09/2014 China (wantchinatime)– The influence of the brutal jihadist group known as the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), may be spreading in Southeast Asia and China despite strong opposition from governments in the region.
According to a report from Singapore’s New Straits Times, Malaysian security authorities have identified four new terror groups that have the same broad goals as Islamic State and may eventually join forces to carve out territory in countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to form an independent, unified “super” Islamic caliphate to rule parts of Southeast Asia.
The four organizations, identified by the acronyms BKAW, BAJ, Dimzia and ADI, are said to have strong links with similar groups active in the Southeast Asia region as well as Islamic State and the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.
The claim comes amid reports that Malaysian authorities have identified a local family of four as having joined Islamic State in its “holy crusade” currently being waged in Iraq and Syria. The father and son are said to be fighting along with the extremists while the mother is working for them as a cook. The family is believed to be among 30 Malaysians fighting in the Middle East for ISIS forces.
The paper also reported that Islamic State has been recruiting new members, especially young people, in Malaysia through Facebook and other social media platforms and religious chat forums.
Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has already said his country, which has a majority Muslim population, is working with the international community to combat the militant organisation and its influence, adding that the Islamic State “does not do justice to Islam.”
Earlier this month, two photos posted on a Facebook page purportedly operated by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence showed a badly beaten man apparently captured by the Iraqi Army, along with a short message describing the man as a Chinese member of Islamic State. If authenticated, the photos will be the first evidence of a Chinese national fighting for the extremist group.
China’s special envoy to the Middle East, Wu Sike, has also stated that Islamic State may have already recruited as many as 100 Chinese citizens, most of whom belong to the Muslim Uyghur minority from northwest China’s restive Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.
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