Bangladeshi Extremists Fueling Terrorism In S.E. Asia

(Research paper direct fromThe IPAC on 08 May 2017.)

Following is the whole of IPAC (Institute For Policy Analysis Of Conflict) Report No.37 under the title “How Southeast Asian and Bangladeshi Extremism Intersect” released on 8 May 2017.

CONTENTS

I. Overview

II. Transborder Movements

III. Historical Links 

A. Ties to the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO)

B. The Early al-Qaeda Years

IV. Escalation Since 2013

A. Arrests in Singapore

B. Arrests in Malaysia  

V. The Holey Artisan Bakery Attack, July 2016  

A. The Malaysia Links

B. Other Pro-ISIS Bangladeshis with Malaysia Links  

C. Bahrum Naim’s Reaction to the Dhaka Attack

D. Bangladeshis and Indonesians in Syria and Iraq  

VI. Bangladeshis and Jihad in the Philippines and Myanmar

A. Recruitment for Mindanao

B. Rohingya Militancy 

VII. Conclusions 

I. OVERVIEW

Captured ISIS-Bangladeshi Cell in Singapore.

Links between Bangladeshi and Southeast Asian extremists appear to be growing, fuelled by ISIS and increasing population movements across the region. If many governments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) treat South and Southeast Asia as two separate regions in their foreign ministries and security agencies, it may be time to think about a broader geographical unit, at least as far as counter-terrorism programming is concerned.

The Bangladesh-Southeast Asian links take several forms:

•           Bangladeshi migrants working in Singapore and Malaysia who recruit fellow workers for violence at home – a tiny proportion of the country’s overseas workers. Many have been supporters of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a group responsible since 2013 for several fatal attacks on secular activists. ABT, which now calls itself Ansarul Islam, is the Bangladesh arm of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

•           Bangladeshi students from middle-class families studying at Malaysian universities who develop pro-ISIS sympathies, either at home or while in Malaysia.

•           Bangladeshis who use Kuala Lumpur as the take-off point for travel to Syria.

•           Bangladeshis and Southeast Asians who meet each other as ISIS fighters in Syria or Iraq.

•           Pro-ISIS Malaysians or Filipinos who try to recruit Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants in Malaysia to fight in Mindanao.

Did Crystal's Pinoys Deliberately Ram USS Fitzgerald?

The massive damage to the destroyer USS Fitzgerald suggests that the container ship, the ACX Crystal, might have slammed into it at a significant speed. This has raised questions as to whether there was proper communication between the two vessels, particularly given how busy the waters in the area are.

The container ship was seen making a U-turn before the collision on some ship trackers, a move that has raised questions about what happened. All of the ACX Crystal's 20-member Filipino crew were safe, according to Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K., which operates the ship.

The waters where the collision occurred see as many as 400 ships pass through every day, according to Japan's coast guard. They are especially congested in the early hours of the day, with ships carrying cargo for early morning delivery in Tokyo. The waters also have fast currents, making it a tricky area that requires experience and skill to navigate.

Germany Is Already Lost To Muslim Crime Clans

(Soeren Kern’s article direct from The GATESTONE INSTITUTE on 18 June 2017.)

Muslim mob attacking the timid German police.

Germany: Police Powerless Against Middle Eastern Crime Gangs. A court in Hanover has handed suspended sentences to six members of a Kurdish clan who seriously wounded two dozen police officers during a violent rampage in Hameln. The court's ruling was greeted with anger and derision by police who said it is yet another example of the laxity of Germany's politically correct judicial system.

The case goes back to January 2014, when a 26-year-old clan member, arrested for robbery, tried to escape from the magistrate's office by jumping out of a seventh-floor courtroom window. The suspect was taken to the hospital, where he died. Members of his clan subsequently ransacked the hospital, as well as the court, and attacked police with rocks and other projectiles; 24 police officers and six paramedics were injured.

The judge said he was lenient because the defendants witnessed the death of the 26-year-old and were traumatized. The judge also revealed that he had reached a deal with the clan, which among other effects prevented police from testifying in court.

Hefazat-e-Islam: Extremist Islamic Group In Bangladesh

(Julien Bouissou’s article direct from The GUARDIAN on 30 July 2013.)

Radicals from Hefazat-e-Islam are killing Bangladeshi Atheists.

Bangladesh's radical Muslims uniting behind Hefazat-e-Islam: Government is wary of a movement led by Shah Ahmad Shafi that has gathered strength since its launch in 2010.

Passersby cast wary looks at a bunch of men lurking outside the entrance to the Hathazari madrasa. They stand out, having neither beards nor traditional dress. Indeed, one of them has had the bright idea of wearing a flowered shirt. For the past few weeks the madrasa in Chittagong, central Bangladesh, has been under police surveillance. It houses 12,000 Qur'anic students, guided by Shah Ahmad Shafi, who heads Hefazat-e-Islam, the country's largest and latest radical Islamic movement.

At his instigation over 500,000 demonstrators clogged the streets of Dhaka on 5 May, demanding the application of 13 measures, including a ban on mixing of men and women in public places, the removal of sculptures and demands for the former wording of the constitution to be reinstated, affirming "absolute trust and faith in Almighty Allah".

Ruling-Family Feud In Singapore: Lee Dynasty Ending?

(Kirsten Han’s article direct from The ASIA TIMES on 14 June 2017.)

Singapore's founding Lee Family.

Lee family feud in Singapore: Dueling public statements between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his two siblings have brought ruling family discord into a glaring public light.

Singaporeans awoke on Wednesday morning to the latest and most public installment of a family feud between the children of the island state’s national founder and first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who passed away in 2015.

In a long public statement entitled “What Has Happened to Lee Kuan Yew’s Values?”, uploaded to Google Drive and posted on their Facebook pages, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang said that they had lost trust and confidence in their brother – Singapore’s current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – and accused him of misusing his power and position “to drive his personal agenda.”

“We feel big brother omnipresent. We fear the use of the organs of state against us and Hsien Yang’s wife, Suet Fern,” they wrote, revealing that Lee Hsien Yang has since decided to leave the country.

Political Islam: Incompatible With US Constitution

(Edwin Mora’s article from TheBREITBART NEWS on 14 June 2017.)

WASHINGTON, DC — Michael Leiter, the former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, argued that sharia law is compatible with the American Constitution. “Muslim’s honoring of Sharia is not inherently in tangent with living in constitutional democracies anymore than it would be for Christians or Jews who also seek to honor their religious traditions while still complying with civil authority,” testified Leiter.

The Somali-born Dutch-American Ayaan Hirsi Ali — an honor violence victim, a strong advocate against female genital mutilation (FGM), and author — strongly disagreed. During a hearing on Islamic ideology and terror held by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Wednesday, Ali testified alongside the former U.S. official who served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Political Islam, focused on establishing an unfree society ruled by strict sharia law, is “fundamentally incompatible” with the U.S. Constitution and the overall “foundation of the American way of life,” declared Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an expert at the Hoover Institution think tank, during a Senate panel hearing.

“My central argument is that political Islam implies a constitutional order fundamentally incompatible with the US Constitution and with the ‘constitution of liberty’ that is the foundation of the American way of life,” proclaimed Ali in her written testimony.

Chittagong Hills Genocide: Houses Torched In Rangamati

(Staff article direct from The DAILY STAR Bngladesh on 21 April 2017.)

Bangalee-Muslim settlers unleashed a series of arson attacks on the Chakma community in Rangamati's Longadu yesterday over the death of a local Jubo League leader, police and victims said.

Indigenous people said over 200 homes and shops were vandalised and burned to ashes after they were looted, although an official of Longadu upazila put the figure at 110. Pulin Mitra Chakma, chairman of Longadu sadar union, said an elderly Chakma woman was hacked to death by the attackers. He identified the victim as Gunamala Chakma, 70,   of Tintila village.

Following the attack beginning around 10:00am, some 300 Chakma families from three villages fled their homes in panic, according to community people. Some photos posted on Facebook show dozens of men, women and children carrying backpacks and handbags crossing a canal, presumably to safety.

Federal Reserve Raised Interest Rate 25 BP To 1.25%

(John Carey’s article direct from The BREITBART NEWS on 14 June 2017.)

Fed Hikes Interest Rates for Fourth Time Since Financial Crisis and Aussie house bubble will bust sooner than later as most housing mortgage here in Australia are short-term loans from US:

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate on Wednesday for the fourth time since 2008. The central bank says it is targeting a range between 1 percent and 1.25 percent for overnight borrowing between banks.

“Job gains have moderated but have been solid, on average, since the beginning of the year, and the unemployment rate has declined,” the Fed said in its analysis of current economic conditions. It noted that inflation has recently declined.

The Fed’s expectations for future rates suggest that there will be one more hike this year, in line with what the market had been expecting. Neel Kashkari, the head of the Minneapolis Fed, dissented from the Fed’s decision. He would have refrained from raising rates.

Suicide Of A Burmese Maid In Singapore: Again

(Staff article direct from The REDWIRE SINGAPORE on 13 June 2017.)

Final Moments before Myanmar Woman Jumps from Height at The Interlace Condominium:

A woman who’s reportedly a Burmese domestic helper from Myanmar jumped from the 19th floor of The Interlace condominium at around 7pm yesterday.

SCDF officers were unable to rescue the woman. The case is being investigated. The Interlace is a 1040-unit condominium development located in Depot Road. It won the World Building of the Year at World Architecture Festival in 2015.

The woman is identified as Zin Mar Oo aged 25 from Arakan but she appears to be not older than 15. There was a suicide attempt by another 15-yr old maid from Burma in Singapore recently who was found to be carrying a false passport of a 25 year old woman.