Top Malaysian police officer warns of suicide attacks as Isis fighters return home

Returnees from Syria and Iraq could attempt to spread the word through social media, says Malaysia’s inspector-general of police

He also spoke about the hunt for Jho Low, saying the fugitive businessman’s days of hiding ‘will be ending soon’

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This photo taken on March 17 shows a view overlooking the camp of Baghouz where remaining Isis fighters had held out. More than two dozen Malaysians are holed up in refugee camps in northern Syria after the fall of Isis in March. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:44pm, 18 Jun 2019Updated: 7:04pm, 19 Jun 2019

Malaysian returnees from Syria and Iraq are frustrated with their failure to achieve martyrdom with the collapse of the Islamic State’s caliphate and could attempt to continue their holy mission in their homeland by staging suicide attacks, Malaysia’s top police officer warned on Tuesday.

“There has been a lot of hype that these [returnees] are frustrated fighters. They have not been able to implement all their ideals, practise what they have been trained for … so they want to do this [holy mission] back home to release their frustration,” Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

Currently, more than two dozen Malaysians are holed up in refugee camps in northern Syria after the fall of Isis in March.

“All these possibilities are there when they return, based on the experience of countries who have dealt with returnees,” Bador said. “We will cover all these angles. We will deal with it cautiously.”

Abdul Hamid Bador, Malaysia's inspector-general of police. Photo: Facebook

Bador said the failure of tech giants to identify and remove extremist messages swiftly has allowed impressionable young people to easily access harmful material, which ends up radicalising them.