Be warned: militants are now luring schoolgoing kids in Malaysia to join their fight through an aggressive Facebook ‘recruitment drive’.
Federal police revealed that these groups used social media as a net to drag the ‘young and easily misled’ into their system.
We’re talking about teens as young as 15!
Principal assistant director of the Counter Terrorism Division of the Special Branch at Bukit Aman, SAC Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay told Bernama that the groups use verses of the Holy Quran as a bait.
“At times, only part of the Quran verses are used or verses are misinterpreted to make their objectives legitimate,” he said.
“The trend to recruit youngsters between the ages of 15 and 30 through Facebook is worrying.
“Besides schoolchildren, students of private and public higher learning institutions with family and educational problems, government and private sector employees as well as businessmen are being coaxed to join militant groups,” he told the national news agency.
He added that there were three militant groups in which Malaysians have been involved: the Islamic State (IS), Jabhat Al Nusra and Ajnad Al Sham.
Recently, police confirmed the identity of a 26-year-old female doctor who drew international attention with posts on social media about her ‘romance’ and marriage with an Islamic State jihadist.
Two weeks ago, police stopped another woman at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) from travelling to meet her future husband – a Malaysian – in Syria.
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More than 20 Malaysians have been arrested so far for their involvement with militant groups in Syria.
