ISIS cell supporting political party in Malaysia? 'But ISIS considers democracy apostasy'.
Also, a fan-based ISIS channel is different from an official propaganda machine, says an expert.
A news report of an ISIS cell in Malaysia supporting a political party in the Southeast Asian nation has been dismissed as such an endeavour would go against the international terror group’s ideology.
Malaysian news site The Vibes were the first to report on a terror threat issued via two graphics by what claimed to be an ISIS media channel named as Al Malaka Media Centre.
The news report, titled “Islamic State’s presence detected in M’sia, supporting local party”, also captured a response by Malaysia’s Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who said authorities have been aware of ISIS’s attempt at expanding its influence in Malaysia.
Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani also responded, saying the police have been keeping tabs on the spread of ISIS propaganda on social media and the terror group’s efforts to woo sympathisers.
Malaysian terrorism analyst Munira Mustaffa said pro-ISIS supporters are a-dime-a-dozen on social media channels and their removal or arrest does not prevent the emergence of another, making their complete elimination challenging.
“The graphic looks like it falls within the genre of supporter media, not ‘official’” the founder and Executive Director of Chasseur Group told SEA MILITANCY.
“I do not think the graphic should be taken seriously. IS ideology has largely lost its appeal to its Malaysian audience. The stragglers in Indonesia and Philippines are mostly driven by local grievances.”
Munira said while Al Malaka appears to be a pro-IS supporters group, it is not considered to be part of the “official” central core.
“It is important to understand this distinction. I doubt the name has any relevance to Kota Melaka (in Malaysia), which many thought it does. In fact, it is very likely that it is a reference to the Arabic word المالك, which translates to "The Owner", which is not a particularly sophisticated choice,” she said.
“The product quality itself suggests that it was produced by individuals who speak Indonesian, not Malay. I have already reviewed the other messaging products made by the same unit, which were clearly written by Indonesian speakers, given the diction. This itself is hardly surprising.”
The Vibes’ report said Al Malaka Media Centre is linked to ISIS media outlets in Indonesia and the Philippines and was understood to be in direct support of a radical political party and an established radical organisation.
The report quoted the Nordic Counter-Terrorism Network’s (NCTN) Cyber Counter-Terrorism Division, who identified Al Malaka Media Centre and revealed that the channel’s content is available on the dark web. An analyst from a Singaporean terrorism think tank has debunked this dark-web claim in his opinion piece exclusive to SEA MILITANCY.
Based on materials obtained by NCTN and shared with The Vibes, the Al Malaka created an image depicting the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur with ISIS flags flying at the top of the building with a burning fighter jet in the sky along with the words in Malay “Hari Penaklukan Segera Tiba” (the day of conquest is coming soon).
Munira, a former Malaysian government terrorism analyst, said while diligence is commendable, people need to exercise caution to avoid creating undue alarm. She also debunked the political party-support claim.
More importantly, according to her, people should have understood ISIS better as a group by now, along with its ideology, organisational behaviour, and capabilities, given that authorities spent over eight years to counter it.
“As of now, there is no compelling evidence to substantiate assertions of the existence of a new IS cell operating in Malaysia, much less one that claims to be supporting any particular political party in the country because this would be against their ideological alignment,” she said.
“Typically, supporters of IS worldwide are not inclined to support any political parties. They view the democratic system as fundamentally irredeemable and any ‘Islamic’ parties that participate in the process are considered to be inherently kufr or apostate by default.”
“Drawing conclusions or making assumptions based on unverified information that was cherry-picked is not advisable.”
During the heyday of ISIS, many news organisations unwittingly fell into the trap of overblowing channels run by ISIS sympathisers (or “fan boys” according to terrorism analysts and researchers), reporting on them as if they were official ISIS media outlets.
Acryl Sani, the Malaysian police chief, in his response to the Al Malaka news reports, also did advise the Malaysian public not to worry about the spread of ISIS material by its sympathisers and that the situation is under control.