ASEAN must work more closely to tackle new terror trends: PM Lee (Today, 7 September 2016)
While South-east Asia has been dealing with terrorism for some years, the emergence of three new trends means there is a greater need for the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) to work more closely to tackle the issue, said Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Addressing regional leaders at an Asean retreat on Wednesday (Sept 7), Mr Lee outlined the worrying trends of a rise in cases of self-radicalisation, growing links between terrorist groups and a spike in the number of attacks. “These are single individuals, self-radicalised, acting alone, difficult to stop,” he said during the informal closed-door session where leaders discuss regional and international issues, adding that there is a steady trickle of one or two self-radicalised individuals detected by the Singaporean authorities every month. He noted that the frequency of the attacks has increased. “It used to be a significant attack every few months, now we hear of attacks every few weeks, sometimes every few days in different parts of the world — and you have the Jakarta bombings and shootings in January, the attack in Puchong, Selangor in June and then most recently the bombing in Davao (last week).”Terrorist organisations that have been present in South-east Asia for the past decade, such as Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf, have also linked up with Islamic State (IS), as well as with Uighurs from China, he noted. “We have to work more closely together, share intelligence, share our analysis of threats, counter extremist doctrines and exchange views, and take concerted actions against terrorist groups.”