Myanmar’s new government is boosting Aung San Suu Kyi’s security detail after a letter claiming to be from the so-called Islamic state sent named her as a target.
She was included on a hit-list of politicians alongside Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his deputy and attorney general, sent to a police station in Sembilan state, peninsular Malaysia, on Wednesday.
Malaysian police are analyzing the authenticity of the letter in an attempt to identify the sender.
“After hearing the threat information, we have to be very careful and work on checking, investigating, and preparing [additional] security,” Zaw Htay, spokesman of the President’s Office, told Radio Free Asia.
“We don’t need to worry too much, but we also can’t underestimate it,” he said.
Suu Kyi, the state counselor, is scheduled to visit Malaysia this month.
Zaw Htay added that Myanmar officials are analyzing the extent of the domestic threat posed by the so-called Islamic State.
“Although they [ISIS militants] are based in Iraq and Syria, they usually carry out attacks with home- grown networks of terrorist cells,” he said. “We have to check for home-grown terrorist cells very carefully.”
