MALAYSIANS, especially Christians need not worry about their safety following the terrorist attack at a church in Indonesia on Sunday, said the Federal Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division (E8) principle assistant director Normah Ishak.

Normah told The Malaysian Insight the situation in the country is under control, adding that the social fabric in Malaysia is very much different from Indonesia’s.

She was commenting on the suicide bombings that rocked the main Catholic cathedral in Makassar city on Sulawesi island on Sunday morning, just after Christians celebrated Palm Sunday mass to mark the beginning of Holy Week.

At least two suicide bombers were killed and about 20 devotees and church officials were injured.

“Militant groups in Indonesia are very well organised, unlike individuals here in Malaysia, where the structure is very loose and leaderless,” said Normah.

“The geography is also different. If they try to enter Malaysia through the peninsula, they will get trapped and there are not many places they can hide.”

Indonesian police described the attack as “a suicide bombing” committed by a newlywed couple who belonged to a pro-Islamic State extremist group, both of whom had died.

Police said the couple were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, an extremist group blamed for a series of attacks, including the 2018 suicide bombings in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya.

The two were on a motorcycle and tried to gain access into the cathedral grounds when the bombs were set off.

Churches have been targeted in the past by extremists in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.

In Malaysia, at least 10 churches and few mosques have been attacked or vandalised since a December 31, 2009 high court decision prohibiting non-Muslim publications from using the word “Allah”.

Recently, Special Branch Counter-Terrorism assistant director Azman Omar told a forum there is no proof Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is gaining strength in Sabah.

JI is a Southeast Asian militant extremist Islamist terrorist group with cells in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. It is dedicated to the establishment of an Islamic state in the region.

“There is no evidence to show that JI is back in Sabah although its leader Abu Bakar Bashir is out of prison.  

“We, however, are monitoring ex-JI members who have been released. JI was active in the early 2000 but not now. No intelligence to show such movement,” said Azman at the forum organised by The International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia.

JI was the group responsible for the bombings of nightclubs in Bali that killed 202 and another in Jakarta, which left 12 dead.

Members of the extremist Islamist group were later convicted.

Between 2014 and 2020, 83 individuals suspected of involvement with JI have been arrested in Sabah. – March 30, 2021.