No Warning, No Sign Before Terrorists Strike

By Muna Khalid and Siti Zubaidah Abdullah KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- No warning, not even a sign. The world was once again rocked by violent attacks, with the latest in Paris on Friday night, killing over 100 people and injuring more than 200. Undetected by intelligence agencies, the series of violent attacks at six different locations in the city of Paris showed terrorist groups were now more sophisticated and capable of mass destruction on a global scale. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) geostrategy expert Prof Dr Azmi Hassan said the individuals responsible for the attacks surely had military experiences. "Careful planning must have been done by the mastermind. So, it is quite shocking that the intelligence (network) in France or in the United States had failed to sniff out an activity as large as this," he told Bernama here. According to the international media, the Islamic State (IS) militants claimed to have masterminded the series of random attacks and bombings in the city of Paris. Several episodes of violence taking place in several countries of late, have proven that no place was secure from terrorist attacks. "Sharing of intelligence information between nations is crucial because this episode shows an intelligence failure which is incredibly big," he said. Similar incidents, stressed Azmi, indicated that the cycle of violence would not end until political solutions in several turbulent nations such as Syria were achieved. If it was true that the attacks in Paris were tied to the crisis in Syria, the most important lesson was that the super powers such as the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and France must set aside their respective geopolitical agendas. "Since the super powers are also in the United Nations Security Council, they can use this facility to find a solution for the people of Syria, and not to meet their own demands," he said. Another member of the council which has veto power is China. In the Malaysian context, Azmi said the nation was currently free of violent activities but what was worrying was that there were Malaysians who had militant experiences in Syria and the Philippines. "If such individuals returned to Malaysia, the threat of violence is there," he said. He said monitoring and intelligence must be carried out continuously on the groups or individuals suspected of having ties or sympathised with terrorist groups. "If, to date, the Royal Malaysian Police Counter-Terrorism unit had detained more than 100 individuals suspected of being involved with violent activities, surely, those who are not under their radar are far more," he said. Meanwhile, International Movement for Just World president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said every incident of violence must be investigated first before speculation was made. "To tackle this matter (violence) from taking place here, we also need a complete intelligence (services) and there must be a clear law. We must act firmly on the matter," he added. -- BERNAMA