Southeast Asia persists in facing an active terror threat, especially from the ISIS militant group.

In May 2024, a radicalised individual who was likely inspired by ISIS’ violent ideology struck a police station in Ulu Tiram, Johor, with a machete, slaying two police officers and injuring a third.

The incident highlights the continued resonance of radical ideologies, such as those pushed by ISIS, among the weak and misguided.

That this attack was carried out with an effortlessly obtainable bladed weapon also emphasises how lone-actor attacks involving simple standards remain a serious threat. The assailant, a 21-year-old Malaysian, was shot and killed by a police officer at the scene. His five family members were arrested in court for terrorism-related offences. 

A statement made in March in a forum of a pro-ISIS website indicated that the mujahideen should strike “Chinese outside China” in Muslim and Western countries, specifically citing Malaysia and Singapore. ISIS allies in Southeast Asia use online communications to join with like-minded people in the region and incite violence. The agency meant to a Philippines-based pro-ISIS media group, Al Fursan Media Foundation, which reportedly cooperated with pro-ISIS groups said to be based in Malaysia.

Shifting to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the threat posed by the terror outfit stays, despite JI’s senior leadership reporting on June 30 that it would be disbanded. JI’s dissolution is a major victory for the Indonesian authorities, noting that the group has been diluted and decimated by waves of pre-emptive strikes and detentions against its leaders and members since 2019. However, groups within JI that do not conform with their senior leaders may crack and carry out attacks to demonstrate their loyalty to armed jihad. Some JI members may also persist in propagating the group’s ultimate purpose of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia.

However, there are strong counter-terrorism measures in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, for example, security procedures have weakened the Abu Sayyaf group’s operational capabilities, said ISD. The group’s sub-leader and bomb-designer Mundi Sawadjaan was killed in December 2023 when Philippine security forces thwarted his escape attempt. Indonesia did not mourn any terror attacks in 2023, and the authorities there charged close to 150 individuals in counter-terrorism procedures that year.