IS cells in country a possibility, says Prawit

IN A rare admission, Thai security tzar Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday there was a possibility that the Islamic State (IS) was trying to establish a cell in the country.
His remarks follow a report that Malaysian authorities were hunting for a Narathiwat native, suspected to be the mastermind of an extremist group. “There could be an attempt to come to Thailand but we are ready to defend ourselves,” Prawit said. “Like in other countries, they might try to set up a cell in Thailand but we can prevent that.” 

The Malaysian report said that four IS members, suspected of planning attacks on non-Muslim places of worship, had fled to the deep South. Three of them were Malaysians and one a Thai national. 
Two of the suspects were Muhamad Faizal Muhamad Hanafi and Muhamad Hanafi Yah, both from Kelantan state in Malaysia. A third suspect is Nor Farkhan Mohd Isa, whose address was given as Taman Ungku Tun Aminah in Skudai, southern Johor, according to The Straits Times.
The Thai suspect – Awae Wae-Eya – reportedly lives in the southernmost Narathiwat province, one of the violence hotspots.
Media reports earlier said that six members of the IS cell had been arrested between February 27 and March 1. But four others were still on the run. Malaysia Police said the men were “dangerous” and “capable of launching attacks that could pose a threat to national security”.
Intelligence circles in Malaysia said they believe Awae is the group’s mastermind, based on interrogation of the six men arrested, and that he is trying to establish an IS cell in southern Thailand.
However, Thai security authorities yesterday tried to play down the threat, saying Awae was just a self-promoting figure who loved to claim linkage with IS to get attention in social media. 
“He is unemployed, an Internet troll but definitely has no connection with IS,” the spokesman of Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), Pramot Promin, said. Awae’s record is quite clean, as he has never been involved in any violent incidents in the deep South, Pramot said. The Isoc forward command has already reported to the Fourth Army Region Commander Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich about the man, he said. 
Thai authorities would collaborate with Malaysia to compare intelligence information about the movement of militants on the ground, Pramot said.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said police were investigating the case and have regularly exchan-ged information with Malaysian counterparts. Southeast Asia has been dreading the growth of IS cells. IS is reported to have some cells and key figures operating in the region and the group is know to have recruited many fighters from Southeast Asia. 
Scholar Srisompob Jitpiromsri from Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, said based on his study there was no solid evidence to prove any move to create or of the presence of an IS cell in the deep South. The nature and ideologies of IS and militants in the South are different, he said.
“Some individual insurgents in the South might be inspired by ISIS, but there is no solid connection with the extremist groups,” he said.