“There are lone wolf operatives and that makes it difficult to control arms. So arms control is vital. It was compromised previously when C4 bombs were used in Altantuya’s murder,” said Lee Boon Chye (PKR-Gopeng).
Altantuya was killed on Oct 18, 2006, and her body blown up with C4 military-grade explosives at a forest in Shah Alam, Selangor. Her remains were found scattered around the area.
Two police commandos, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, members of an elite unit who were part of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s security detail at the time, have since been convicted of her murder and sentenced to death.
“How would the ministry ensure weapons don’t fall into the hands of Islamic State terrorists?” Lee asked in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein responded by downplaying the possibility of IS operatives using weapons belonging to the military.
“I was just about to praise you and then you linked it to the Altantuya case. Monitoring lone wolf operatives is not easy. It is not like monitoring Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah,” he said.
Hishammuddin went on to ask politicians not to politicise the IS issue.
He said advanced countries were also facing problems with IS attacks, citing the attack in Nice, France, on July 14, where a cargo truck was used to attack civilians.
Earlier, Hishammuddin said no armed forces personnel had been detained for involvement in IS activities this year.
He said in 2014, two were detained and found guilty. Last year, nine were found guilty and two were still being tried in court.