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IS will eye Southeast Asia even more after Abu Bakr’s death—Malaysia police

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The Star/Asia News Network / October 29, 2019 Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division head DCP Datuk Ayob Khan . File Pic Inquirer.net PETALING JAYA — Security forces in Malaysia remain on high alert for any terrorist threat in the country, especially after the death of Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, police say. The terror group, according to Deputy Comm Datuk Ayob Khan, will be more determined to set up a main base in Southeast Asia, especially in the southern Philippines. “IS will remain a dangerous group despite the loss of its leader and law enforcement agencies, especially the police, cannot afford to let their guard down.“We have detected IS’ plan to set up a new caliphate in the region since the fall of their stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, in 2017. “Attacks in Surabaya and the southern Philippines last year are evidence of their plans,” the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division head (E8) told The Star. While the police d...
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After Baghdadi death, Southeast Asia expects long fight against Islamic State's influence

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October 28, 2019 Martin Petty, Rozanna Latiff MANILA/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Southeast Asian countries fighting Islamic State’s influence in the region lauded the killing of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but said security forces were preparing for a long battle to thwart the jihadist group’s ideology. FILE PHOTO: The war-torn Grand Mosque is pictured in Marawi City, Lanao province, Philippines, May 11, 2019. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez/File Photo The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, home to some of Asia’s most organized Islamist militants, said on Monday they were braced for retaliation by Islamic State loyalists, including “lone wolf” attacks by locals radicalized by the group’s powerful online propaganda. Baghdadi killed himself in a tunnel in northwest Syria by detonating a suicide vest as U.S. forces closed in, according to U.S. President Donald Trump. Though his death will unsettle Islamic State, it remains capable and dangerous, said Delfin Lorenzana, defen...
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ISIS Leader Paid Rival for Protection but Was Betrayed by His Own

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The last home of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, now a pile of rubble, was in an unlikely part of Syria near the Turkish border. Credit...Omar Haj Kadour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Rukmini Callimachi on Oct. 30, 2019. The Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was able to hide out in an unlikely part of Syria, the base of a rival group because he was paying protection money to its members, according to receipts for the payments recovered by researchers. The receipts, typical of the Islamic State’s meticulous bookkeeping, showed that the group paid at least $67,000 to members of Hurras al-Din, an unofficial affiliate of Al Qaeda and an enemy of the Islamic State. While the rival group kept Mr. al-Baghdadi’s secret, he was ultimately betrayed by a close confidant, two American officials said Wednesday, leading to his death in an American Special Forces raid last weekend. Other new details about the raid emerged on Wednesday, including that American forces recove...
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Islamic State mole may get $25 million US bounty on Baghdadi's head: Report

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A satellite view of the reported residence of ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi near the village of Barisha in Syria. TOI PTI | Oct 31, 2019 WASHINGTON: An extraordinarily well-placed informant is expected to receive some or all of the $25 million US bounty that had been placed on Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's head, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Baghdadi's safe house in northwest Syria was stormed by special forces along with military working dogs and chased the world's most wanted terrorist leader as he tried to flee. He was cornered in a tunnel beneath the building. US commandos zeroed in on Baghdadi's hideout with the help of an extraordinarily well-placed informant, an Islamic State operative who facilitated the terrorist leader's movements around Syria and even helped oversee construction work on his Syrian safe house, The Post reported, quoting US and Middle East-based officials knowledgeable about the raid on October...
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Baghdadi’s dead, but Islamic State’s ideology lives on in Southeast Asia

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Security agencies in the region are bracing for possible retaliatory attacks following the US’ killing of the terror group leader Analysts and authorities say the threat will remain as long as the ideology keeps spreading, with self-radicalised individuals a concern Amy Chew; Published on 29 Oct 2019. Former Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Photo: EPA The death of Islamic State (Isis) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been hailed by US President Donald Trump, but the terror group’s ideology lives on in Southeast Asia, where the region’s security agencies are bracing for possible retaliatory attacks. Authorities in Indonesia and Malaysia are on the alert, while a terrorism expert says there is likely to be an influx of Isis loyalists into the Philippines. Said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, head of the Royal Malaysian Police’s Special Branch counterterrorism division: “[Baghdadi’s] death will not have any impact on Malaysia … as all terror attack plans in Malaysia ca...
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Syria Kurds took Baghdadi underwear for DNA

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AFP - October 29, 2019 An undercover agent from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) helped identify Baghdadi. (AFP pic) BEIRUT: A Syrian Kurd undercover agent took a pair of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s underwear for DNA identification ahead of the US raid that killed the jihadist leader, a Kurdish official said yesterday. Polat Can, a senior adviser to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), published details of the intelligence work that led to the US raid in which the founder of the Islamic State group was killed. “Since May 15, we have been working together with the CIA to track al-Baghdadi and monitor him closely,” he said. “Al-Baghdadi changed his places of residence very often,” Can said, adding that the asset managed to reach the house where the IS chief was believed to be hiding. “Our own source, who had been able to reach al-Baghdadi, brought al-Baghdadi’s underwear to conduct a DNA test and make sure (100%) that the person in question wa...
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What we know about the military dog injured in the al-Baghdadi raid

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By Benjamin Siu Oct 29, 2019 It played one of the most crucial roles in a top-secret U.S. military operation in Syria on Sunday, racing through an underground tunnel and cornering one of the world's most sought-after terrorists faster than any human or robot could. It's a dog -- a Belgian Malinois, to be exact -- and although top brass is withholding its name, it's being hailed as a hero in the operation that ultimately resulted in the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death. President Donald Trump, in a hastily-arranged address to the nation on Sunday, called it "a dog, a beautiful dog, a talented dog," and -- though it sustained injuries of its own -- he gave it credit for ensuring that the dozens of operators on the ground completed the two-hour mission unscathed. The president tweeted a declassified photo of the dog on Monday afternoon. "We had nobody even hurt and that's why the dog was so great," Trump said....
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