JAKARTA/KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE: South Asian officials must be diligent in the aftermath of rebel troops seizing power over Syria from dismissed prime minister Bashar al-Assad, say experts.
Some experts warn that violence organizations could profit from the nation’s current electricity vacuum and pose a safety risk.
The Syrian situation is extremely volatile and can turn into conflict and violence, according to Adhe Bhakti, executive director of the Jakarta-based Center for Radicalism and Deradicalization Studies ( PAKAR ), according to CNA. In the past, terrorism groups have used this fact to gain new followers and support.
However, a representative from Indonesia’s Counter-Terrorism Agency has urged for cooperation between federal agencies, as well as neighbouring nations.
The civil war in Syria, which began more than a decade ago, paved the way for the formation of the Islamic State ( IS ) and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front.
Both organizations have reportedly radicalized thousands of Muslims in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, attracting lots of foreign fighters from Southeast Asian nations, leading some to start lethal terrorist problems in their respective nations.
The organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ( HTS), which launched an offensive against the Assad regime last month and soon oversaw the capital Damascus and other significant Syrian cities, was established in 2017 when Al-Nusra, which was later renamed Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, merged with a number of other rebel groups to form the rebel coalition.  ,
As the new government worked to create a functioning state, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the insurgent partnership, announced on December 17 that all armed opposition parties in the nation would be disbanded and rebel soldiers would be brought under the control of the Defense Ministry,  .
It was unclear how or when this would be accomplished, or whether the opposing armed groups had come to terms with each other.  ,
Units denied that it still has connections to any terrorist organizations. But, the UN Security Council and many other nations have continued to label the organization as a criminal organization.
IS, formerly a despair network that could coordinate strikes across its numerous trees in Africa and Southeast Asia, has since lost its shadow.
Since Syria has suffered a series of loses against Assad’s plan, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and other rebel groups, its fighters have spread across the country and been huddled up in tiny cells in the northeast deserts. In 2019, IS declared an close to its empire in Syria.
But, experts warned that IS still has the potential to make a comeback. And while some experts say there is little chance of a scatter of fanaticism in Southeast Asia, some warn that there is a chance that violence will spread to the area.  ,
” If there is more instability, fight, and poor management in Syria, the effect of IS might not be contained”, Aizat Shamsuddin, the leader of Initiate. CNA was informed by my initiative to promote tolerance and stop crime in Malaysia.
IS, which wants to turn Syria into an Islamic caliphate adhering to strict religious concepts, has harshly criticized HTS’ efforts to peacefully coexist with religious minority and vowed to reject any new government in Damascus unless IS itself was in command.
However, past international aid for Syria, already under a transitional government led by Mohammed al-Bashir, had been dwindling. When he takes office for the second day in January, US President-elect Donald Trump has already stated that the nation won’t engage in military activity in Syria.
In addition, he pledged to remove all of the approximately 1, 000 US troops stationed in Syria as part of his wider internationalist foreign policy stance, which has kept IS fighters at sea.
If that occurs, experts claim that if IS decides to launch an offensive, the ruling forces are essentially on their own, especially with some nations unwilling to forge a friendship with a possible HTS-led government, which they view as a terrorist organization.