Terrorists floating front firms

Commercial ships are being increasingly used to ferry arms, ammunition and explosives from North-East and South-East Asia to South Asia and the Middle East, a terrorism expert has warned. “This is becoming a common occurrence,” Rohan Gunaratna, Head, of the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, told Fairplay. Terrorist organisations have floated “front” shipping companies for the purpose, he said. Gunaratna was commenting on the seizure of detonators and explosive powder by the Indonesian police from MV Rose said to be from China. The ship, which had berthed in Batam near Singapore, was bound for Yemen. News agency AFP quoted police as saying that one container was filled with detonators and five others were packed with 63 tonnes of explosive powder. Authorities, however, have yet to determine whether the seized cargo is illegal. Gunaratna welcomed the storming of hijacked ship Veesham 1 off Somalia by Islamic fighters who freed 14 crew members being held for ransom on Tuesday.