Indonesian Strikes Confirm Spread of ISIS

Published on Jan 18, 2016 by Luke Hunt

Fears that the troubles in the Middle East – where Islamic militants are fighting for a caliphate and centralized Muslim leadership – will spread to Southeast Asia are proving tragically real with a series of bombs and gun battles in Jakarta.Two civilians and five terrorists were killed. Another 26 were wounded and authorities were lucky the toll was not substantially higher after militants opened fire around a Starbucks coffee shop and Western-styled supermarkets in the first such strike in-country since 2009.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Has Abu Sayyaf Gone Regional?

Published on Dec 23, 2015 by Luke Hunt

As the rest of the world grapples with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), their latest attacks on Paris, and what some commentators are calling the Global Jihad Insurgency, Philippines-based Islamic militant group the Abu Sayyaf may be spreading its own unwanted tentacles.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Islamic State on Trial in Indonesia

Published on Dec 23, 2015 by Luke Hunt

Indonesia is intensifying its efforts to mitigate any fallout from home-grown recruits returning from the battlefields in the Middle East, where hundreds have fought with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Khmer Rouge Commander Meas Muth Charged

Published on Dec 23, 2015 by Luke Hunt

A Khmer Rouge commander who allegedly sent two Australian yachtsmen to Cambodia’s notorious Tuol Sleng interrogation centre, where they were tortured and killed in 1978, has surrendered to officials of a United Nations tribunal in Phnom Penh.Read more from Lindsay Murdoch in The Age.  .

Has a Philippine Militant Group Gone Regional?

Published on Nov 29, 2015 by Luke Hunt

As the rest of the world grapples with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), their latest attacks on Paris, and what some commentators are calling the Global Jihad Insurgency, Philippines-based Islamic militant group the Abu Sayyaf may be spreading its own unwanted tentacles.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..