Nations step up cooperation as Islamic State threat rises

SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian nations plan to use spy planes and drones to stem the movement of militants across their porous borders, defence officials said at the weekend, as concerns rise over the growing clout of Islamic State (IS) in the region.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines said they will launch joint air patrols this month at their shared boundaries in the Sulu Sea, in addition to existing maritime patrols.

Authorities in the region have urged greater cooperation to counter the fallout from a raging battle with IS-linked militants in the southern Philippines, the biggest warning yet that the ultra-radical group is building a base in Southeast Asia.

“Our open borders are being exploited by terrorist groups,” Le Luong Minh, Asean Secretary-General, told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual regional security forum in Singapore.

The region is home to 600 million people and includes Indonesia, which has the world’s highest number of Muslims. Authorities in both Indonesia and Malaysia, also Muslim-majority, have said thousands of their citizens are IS sympathisers and hundreds are believed to have travelled to Syria to join the extremist group.

Indonesian authorities blamed the IS for bombings last month that killed three police officers, the latest in a series of attacks by the militants in the past 17 months.

In recent months, dozens of fighters from Indonesia and Malaysia have crossed from their countries to Mindanao in the southern Philippines, intelligence officials have said, easily passing through waters that have often been lawless and plagued by pirates. Mindanao is the one region in the largely Catholic Philippines to have a significant Muslim minority.

Asean made a joint pledge with the US on the sidelines of the Shangri-La forum to help the Philippines overcome the militant assault in the city of Marawi.

“What featured quite strongly in the US-Asean meeting was the pledge by both US and Asean members that we stand ready to help the Philippines ... whether it’s information, intelligence or otherwise,” said Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, with the assistance of neighbouring Singapore, have carried out joint maritime patrols in the Sulu Sea since last year after a series of kidnappings by the pro-IS Abu Sayyaf group.

“We decided at least these three countries, to avoid being accused of doing nothing ... We’re doing joint maritime and air patrols,” said Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, adding that the air patrols will be launched on June 19.

“If we do nothing, they get a foothold in this region.”

Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said his country will consider deploying drones and surveillance planes at its borders with the Philippines.

Among other measures, Singaporean and Malaysian officials said monitoring and intelligence-sharing on specific individuals had been stepped up in the wake of the fighting in Marawi.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Sunday urged residents to report friends or family suspected of being radicalised.