Minister of Defence and National Security Adam Shareef Umar has stated that the number of Maldivians taking part in civil conflicts abroad has hiked to 61.
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom established the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in order to combat the growing threat of radicalisation and extremism in the Maldives. NCTC, established in 2016, has been mandated to act as the national focal point on all counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism efforts.
The administration has been successful in countering terrorism through several joint operations held in association with foreign nations, Minister of Defence and National Security Adam Shareef Umar said addressing a press conference held by NCTC. In this regard, Defence Minister Adam Shareef stated that a total of 68 individuals have been taken into custody on charges of trying to travel to take part in civil conflicts.
The Defence Minister revealed that 9 of these individuals are catergorised as underage. Minister Adam Shareef Umar showed remorse over the increase in the number of individuals clandestinely traveling to countries such as Syria and other battle-torn countries to take part in civil conflicts. Furthermore, the Defence Minister noted that Maldives has not faced acts of terrorism in recent times and said that unrest and discord occur due to political motivation.