With more and more Malaysians and Indonesians becoming involved in the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts, western companies operating in the region, Carlsberg included, have suddenly found themselves in the crosshairs.
Over the past seven months, Malaysian security forces have arrested 19 Islamic extremists looking to launch terror attacks on a number of targets in Malaysia and Indonesia, including a Carlsberg factory near Kuala Lumpur.
“During questioning, they [the suspects] admitted one of their main objectives was to attack the government,” Ayub Khan, a senior official at Malaysia’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division, told South China Morning Post.
“They also discussed planning attacks against a disco, pubs in Kuala Lumpur and a Carlsberg factory in Petaling Jaya.”
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Bringing terror home
The Malaysian government revealed that 20 of its citizens had left for Syria to fight alongside the brutal militants of the Islamic State (IS), formerly known as ISIS. At least 56 Indonesians have also joined the IS ranks.
Some have been killed, but anti-terror experts fear that many will return home with plans to attack targets in the region.
“This is just like veterans from the wars in Afghanistan. Apart from Malaysia and Indonesia, there are also recruits from the Philippines going to Syria,” Noor Huda Ismail, an Indonesian counter-terrorism expert, said.
