Southeast Asia on alert for Isis ‘grand agenda’ as escaped Indonesian jihadists in Syria eye the region

The terror network is shifting its focus to fake news as a cheap and easy method of undermining trust in the region’s secular governments as a way to destroy them

The potential return to Southeast Asia of 50 hardcore Indonesian militants and their families is expected to revive the movement, and experts warn the threat is ‘real and now’

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Smoke rises from the northern Syrian city of Ras al-Ain during an attack launched by the Turkish army on Sunday. Isis jihadists held captive in the area have fled. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:00pm, 19 Oct 2019Updated: 11:08pm, 21 Oct 2019

Southeast Asian nations are on high alert for about 50 Indonesian Islamic State fighters and their family members who could be tasked with carrying out the terror network’s “grand agenda” of destroying the region’s secular governments following their escape from Syrian prisons.

Terrorism experts say Isis has been turning its attention to weaponising fake news, which it sees as an easy and cost-free way to help undermine and delegitimise authorities in the region.

“The threat is real and it is coming now,” said Noor Huda Ismail, visiting fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“Isis has no plan but to destroy the secular system in the whole of Southeast Asia.

“To produce fake news is super cheap but the impact is powerful because people will get confused. Governments will not work effectively if they suffer from a lack of trust among the people,” Huda said.

A former member of Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda’s Southeast Asian arm said the aim of Isis in the region was to bring the fall of its secular governments, a strategy it called its “grand agenda”.

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