Terrorism on the rise in Malaysia, research finds

BY ELIZABETH ZACHARIAH

Published: 19 November 2014

A global index has shown that Malaysia is experiencing a growing impact of terrorism on its shores, with its rankings jumping from 91 last year to 48 out of 162 countries this year.

Malaysia’s score on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) increased by 1.13 points to 3.04, making it one of many countries that are impacted by acts of terror.

Countries in the same category as Malaysia include Norway, Ireland, South Africa and Paraguay.

Iraq tops the list with a score of 10 which means that it has the highest impact of terrorism. This is followed by Afghanistan (9.39) and Pakistan (9.37).

Neighbouring Philippines and Thailand take the 9th and 10th spots respectively while Indonesia is at number 31.

According to the report, the GTI is a comprehensive study that accounts for the direct and indirect impact of terrorism in terms of lives lost, injuries, property damage and the psychological after-effects of terrorism.

“The number of terrorist attacks around the world has increased dramatically; over 80% of all terrorism occurs in only 5 countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria),” it said, adding that 17,958 people were killed in terrorist attacks last year, 61% more than the previous year.

It also revealed that terrorism last year was dominated by four groups:  the Taliban, Boko Haram, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and al-Qaeda.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed in Parliament that police statistics indicated that 167 Malaysians were involved in militant activities abroad since December 2001.

He said 39 of these people were involved in the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria.

Police thwarted plans by Malaysian militants to bomb several nightclubs as well as a Carlsberg brewery in Shah Alam, Selangor.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein also addressed the situation, saying the government constantly took various measures to strengthen security along the Sabah east coast, which is the most vulnerable to outside attacks.

He said the armed forces had stationed its personnel in strategic locations to thwart any threat to security, not just from the Sulu militia. – November 19, 2014.

– See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/growing-impact-of-terror-in-malaysia-research-finds#sthash.miV7FJeC.dpuf

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