Why are Malaysia, Singapore nervous as Iraq looks to retake Mosul from Islamic State?

Malaysia on Tuesday led calls for Southeast Asian governments to tighten anti-terror measures amid fears Iraq’s sweeping offensive to retake the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Mosul will trigger an influx of fleeing foreign fighters seeking safe haven in their home countries.

Trapped Mosul residents brace themselves as Islamic State digs in for fight: ‘Anyone who flees is shot dead’

Baghdad with the support of US advisers and Kurdish fighters this week launched a long-awaited military campaign to retake the city of over one million people two years after the militant group seized control and declared it the centrepiece of a new Islamic caliphate.

There is a mix of around 8,000 homegrown and foreign fighters in the northern Iraqi city, which straddles IS-controlled areas in north-western Iraq and neighbouring parts of eastern Syria.

Malaysia’s deputy prime minister and interior minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Tuesday said the country’s border and airport security had been enhanced.

“We exchange information with intelligence agencies and we have a list of suspects. Our enforcement agencies are always at the ready not only at the airports but also at the rat tunnels,” Zahid Hamidi said.