Former Head of Defence Intelligence at Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam has said there is proof people supporting extremist ideologies such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS exist in Maldives Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam, who previously served at the Counter Terrorism Department, made the remarks at an international symposium hosted by Mahinda Rajapaksa Centre under the theme Global Expansion of ISIS: Impact on Sri Lanka.
Addressing the symposium, Brigadier General Ahmed Nilam said since 1990 extremist actions were seen in Maldives. Adding failure to take action against such people in the beginning have raised the danger of extremist ideologies to a worrisome level, Nilam stated proof of such ideologies increasing have been received in the past couple of years. He revealed people with extremist ideologies are at the root of the social issues developing in Maldives.
Furthermore, Nilam added it is suspected the murder of former Parliamentarian Dr. Afrasheem Ali, the murder of famous blogger Yameen Rasheed and the enforced disappearance of Journalist Ahmed Rilwan are connected to people with such ideologies. Delivering the speech on the topic the influence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS in Maldives, he expressed the importance of collective efforts to tackle the issues as attacks and threats on any regional country affects the whole region.
Other speakers of the symposium, which was attended by Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremasinghe and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, include Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam Centre for International Studies in Singapore Dr. Rohan Gunaratne and International Affairs Editor at The Hindu Stanly Johny.