Malaysia warns Isis may shift base to Southeast Asia, as militants seek fake passports

Malaysia’s home affairs minister says Islamic State may move operations after death of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Meanwhile, former militant says foreign fighters are looking for forged or stolen passports to return home

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A Thai immigration officer displays fake passports in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:30am, 28 Nov 2019Updated: 10:21pm, 28 Nov 2019

Malaysia has warned that the Islamic State (Isis) militant group may open up a new front and move its operations to Southeast Asia following the death last month of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

“After losing much of its territory in Syria and Iraq, Daesh is looking for a new base. Malaysia does not rule out the possibility of Daesh shifting its operations to the Southeast Asia region,” Malaysian home affairs minister Muhyiddin Yassin told the 13th Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime in Bangkok on Wednesday.

He was referring to Isis by its Arabic acronym.

“There are also growing threats from returning foreign terrorist fighters, online radicalisation and lone-wolf attacks,” Muhyiddin said.

Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed last month. Photo: AP

Last week the US Department of State’s top counterterrorism official Nathan Sales said that while Isis militants were not coming to Southeast Asia “in droves”, they were exporting terrorist tactics, techniques and procedures from the Middle East, including suicide bombings, which were a “very, very recent phenomenon” in the region.