United force targets jihadis
NO SINGLE COUNTRY CAN DEFEAT ISIS ALONE BUT TOGETHER WE CREATE A UNITED FORCE THAT CAN DEFEAT THIS THREAT MICHAEL KEENAN
AUSTRALIA will lead a “united force” of regional police to combat the growing threat of Islamic State backed terrorists in South- East Asia and for the first time share intelligence files of the jihadists’ movements and financing from the Middle East.
Sources have confirmed talks between senior Australian Federal Police officers and counterparts from the Indonesian National Police are well advanced in formalising a pact to combat ISIS across the region and bring in other counterparts from the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
While joint operations between regional police forces are not new, they have in the past been contained to a specific terror threat, act or operation and not a combined resource nor, significantly, a broad sharing of intelligence.
How the strategy will work is to be further discussed in November.
Two days ago, two radicalised locals from Singapore were arrested attempting to join militants in the besieged city of Marawi in southern Philippines where thousands of armed forces have been battling ISIS- backed militants for more than three months.
More than 800 people, including 620 militants and 136 soldiers, have so far been killed.
But intelligence has confirmed wannabe jihadists elsewhere in the region, using the distraction of Marawi and chatting via the encrypted Telegram app, have become well organised, funded and armed.
There are more than 400 suspected Australian jihadists on a watch list that were looking to join ISIS- backed armed conflict.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan would not discuss specifics but has told News Corp Australia the threat from returning foreign fighters inspiring homegrown regional jihadists was very real.
“The need for greater cooperation with our neighbours has never been more critical,” he said yesterday.
“No single country can defeat ISIS alone but together we create a united force that can defeat this threat.
“This is why Australia is taking a leadership role and joining forces with our regional neighbours to do everything within our powers to stop ISIS from getting a stronghold in our backyard.”
The initiative comes on top of the commitment by the Australian Defence Force to help train troops in the Philippines in urban warfare tactics.
Last week, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed his country was in talks with Malaysia and Indonesia to have “open borders” to their security forces hunting militants in his country including allowing them to carry out “hot pursuits” in Filipino territorial waters.