ISIS attempted to carry out an airliner bombing in the Maldives, says Police

Maldives Police Service (MPS) has revealed that the terrorist organization known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) had made plans to carry out an airliner bombing in the Maldives during 2017.

While speaking at the ‘Viavathi Raajje’ councilor conference held at Crossroads Maldives, Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed disclosed that, in 2017, a group of Maldivians built an improvised explosive device (IED) as instructed by ISIS leaders via a Maldivian militant living in Syria. The group was commanded to plant the bomb on a plane traveling within the Maldives.

Nevertheless, the commissioner stated that the plan was stopped in its tracks due to a joint operation by the MPS, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), and National Counter Terrorism Centre (NTCC).

According to Hameed, five of the world's leading countries also collaborated in the operation, making it "the largest counter-terrorism, intelligence and investigation operation of 2017 in the world"

Hameed also added that, in 2017, plans had also been made to blast two IED's in a public gathering inside the Maldives.

While highlighting the recently ratified amendments to the Terrorism Act, the commissioner claimed that the Maldives' is the most active in counter-terrorism efforts in the South Asian region.