New Terror Group Busted

(Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia) The Darul Islam is being characterized as a new terrorist organization when, in reality, the group was suppressed for decades and just recently became re-energized.

From TheStar.com.my:

A new terrorist group suspected of planning attacks on several neighbouring countries has been uncovered following the arrest of 12 men.

The recent capture of members of the Indonesian radical group, Darul Islam, was the Malaysian police's biggest success against terrorism since their crackdown five years ago on Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) which had links with the Jemaah Islamiah terror network.

The Darul Islam group, comprising mainly Indonesians, had at least two locals.

The 12 detained were nabbed off the coasts of Sandakan and Tawau following months of police surveillance.

The police had learnt that several members of the group would be in "transit" in Malaysia while on their way to neighbouring countries, sources said.

There are several potential target countries which border the South China Sea and I believe that all the major terror groups in the region work with each other in creating havoc. In addition to Darul Islam, there's also al Qaeda, Abu Sayyaf, and Jemaah Islamiah.

Police are investigating if Darul Islam had links with the Abu Sayyaf terror group based in the southern Philippines and the al-Qaeda movement led by Osama bin Laden who orchestrated the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Star learnt that at least 11 members of Darul Islam are being held at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak. They have been issued two-year detention orders under the Internal Security Act.

Police seized several weapons and documents, including bomb-making instructions from the Darul Islam members who likely operate out of the Malaysian state of Sabah, on Borneo island and centrally located between Indonesia, the Philippines, and mainland Malaysia.

One final thought. Since the Darul Islam was dormant for a number of years and recently became operational again, it's probably safe to assume that it had an infusion of resources. I'd guess that it was al Qaeda sending Darul Islam a few key people and money.

Companion post at In The Bullpen.


[Update 05/31/06]

I was at least partially correct. Another report indicates that one member of Darul Islam was trained at a bin Laden al Qaeda facility in Afghanistan.