The Straits Times
20 September 2017
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- ISIS, Al-Qaeda Drawn to Crisis in Rakhine State
ISIS, Al-Qaeda Drawn to Crisis in Rakhine State
The plight of the Rohingya, an Islamic minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, has evoked strong emotions across the Muslim world.
Counter-terrorism experts say the crisis has attracted the attention of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as well as Muslim militants and hardliners in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Mr Iftekharul Bashar, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the crisis is unfolding at a time when ISIS is losing much of its territory in the Middle East and is trying to expand its hold in South Asia and South-east Asia.
“The recent siege of Marawi… shows that ISIS penetration in the Rakhine state conflict cannot be ruled out,” he added.
ICPVTR / Print / Online
