Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed has revealed that there are over 1,400 Maldivians all over the country with extremist ideologies who are "willing to kill" at the slightest provocation.
While speaking in regard to the situation of terrorism in the country at the ‘Viavathi Raajje’ councilor conference held at Crossroads Maldives on Monday, the commissioner appealed for support from the councils in counter-terrorism efforts.
While sharing statistics related to extremism, Hameed disclosed that 173 Maldivians have successfully traveled to Syria to join ISIS out of a total of 423 people.
There are only 59 Maldivians in Syria currently, of which 91% are women and children, said CP Hameed. He also added that only four men are in a state to come back to the Maldives.
Moreover, Hameed stated that hundreds of Maldivians have traveled to participate in the border wars of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past as well.
Some of them have come back to the Maldives and have continued spreading their extremist ideology. Today we are taking steps against such people on a policy-making, legislative level. We will hopefully continue in these efforts.Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed
Since the fall of the ISIS 'caliphate' earlier this year, the organization has been making efforts to form branches around the world with a significant number of Maldivians showing interest in this area, said Hameed.
A lot of work is being put into reestablishing the branch of ISIS-Khorasan Province (KP). One Maldivian that joined the ISIS-KP has recently been incarcerated for 21 years in Afghanistan with his wife being sentenced to 20 years.Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed
Highlighting the terrible conditions of the Maldivian refugee children in Syria, Hameed claimed that the families of the refugees have contacted the authorities almost every day. Therefore, the authorities are working on a method to bring the refugees back to the Maldives.
While he noted the spread of extremist ideologies despite a police presence, Hameed stated that the dangerous activities of such individuals is a huge concern as they are willing to put the community in danger.
Hence, efforts are being made to tackle the issue of violent extremism with no hesitation, added the commissioner.
