BATAM – An Indonesian radio station Monday denied airing extremist sermons after Singapore linked it to the radicalisation of two men detained in the city-state who allegedly planned to join the Islamic State group.

Singapore announced last week that Rosli bin Hamzah, 50, and Mohamed Omar bin Mahadi, 33, were being held under a tough internal security law after authorities discovered they intended to travel to Syria to fight for IS.

Several years ago the Singaporean men started listening to Radio Hang, based on the Indonesian island of Batam just south of Singapore, according to the city-state’s Ministry of Home Affairs.

The station “sometimes features speakers who preach extreme religious views”, the ministry said, and the pair went on to read more radical material about IS which fuelled their desire to join the jihadists.

Radio Hang station manager Abu Yusuf said the station broadcast religious sermons but never spread “IS teachings”.

“On the contrary, we have been preaching against people who are not practising true Islam,” he told AFP.

“We have been helping the government to broadcast teachings against terrorism.”

ISIS activities in Southeast Asia

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The broadcasting regulator had monitored Radio Hang but did not find any violations and the station’s broadcasts were “very anti-radical”, said Suyono, a local official from the body who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has long struggled with Islamic militancy.

After a lull of several years there has been an increase in attacks and attempted attacks in the past year due to growing support for IS.

The Singapore ministry said Rosli, who worked as a car washer, became convinced IS militants were fighting for Islam while Omar, a waste truck driver, had made preparations with his wife and children to travel to Syria.

They are being held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

Singaporean officials have repeatedly warned that the city-state – a US ally in the region – is a prime target for IS militants.

Earlier this month Indonesian police arrested six suspected militants over a plot to launch a rocket attack on an upmarket Singapore waterfront district from Batam.

Young Muslims speak out against ISIS on social media

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BANGKOK- The hunters have become the hunted.

Police in Bangkok announced a crackdown on Monday against Thai drivers playing Pokemon Go following complaints that the craze was bringing further gridlock to an already notoriously congested metropolis.

The mobile app – which encourages users to hit the pavements in search of digital monsters – was made available in Thailand earlier this month delighting many in a country where Japanese subcultures have a significant following.

But the game has since sparked a flurry of headlines in the local press as well as unease among the kingdom’s military leaders.

“The police chief has asked all policemen to detain any Pokemon players who play while using the roads,” deputy national police spokesman Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen told reporters.

“People have a right to play the game but it must not affect other people’s rights,” he added.

Pokemon Go: A beginner’s guide

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The New Paper

Colonel Veeravit Vatchanapukka, from the city’s traffic police, said teams of officers on motorbikes would stake out key arteries in the capital hoping to catch drivers in the act.

“We do not aim to arrest many people, instead we hope this programme will raise awareness with people about carelessness,” he told AFP.

Bangkok is not exactly an ideal playground for Pokemon players.

The sweltering Thai capital is notorious for its long traffic queues while the World Health Organisation says Thailand has the second highest road fatality rate in the world.

Pavements are patchy and those that exist are often littered with hurdles ranging from street vendors and fire hydrants to potholes and tangled wiring.

Pokemon Go fever

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But that hasn’t stopped hordes of players embracing the game in public spaces, including those jumping into cars and onto motorbikes to hunt down digital monsters.

Some of the city’s motorbike taxi drivers, who career through the gridlock at knuckle-whitening speeds, are even offering hourly rates for Pokemon hunters.

Two weeks ago the spokesman for Thailand’s junta chief warned Thais against obsessive playing of the game.

“Thai walking culture is not like Japan and there are limited pavements,” the spokesman added.

Gotta catch ’em all: Pokemon Go now in Singapore

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BANGKOK – Thai police on Monday said at least 20 people were involved in carrying out a wave of deadly bombings in the country’s south earlier this month.

National police chief Jakthip Chaijinda said that police have not ruled out any motive for the attacks and believe that many of those involved came from Thailand’s Muslim-majority southern provinces.

“We know where they came from, where they went. We believe there are at least 20 people involved in this network,” Jakthip told reporters, without giving further details.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Aug 11 and Aug 12 attacks which took place in seven provinces and targeted high profile beach towns, killing four people and injuring dozens.

The bombings came days after Thais voted to accept a military-backed constitution in a nation-wide referendum.

Police and the government ruled out any link to foreign militants within hours of the attacks and insisted the perpetrators were home-grown.

Jakthip said that he could not confirm whether the bombings were an extension of an insurgency in the southern provinces that border Malaysia, where Malay-Muslim insurgents are fighting a bloody war that has claimed more than 6,500 lives since 2004.

“We are unwilling to say what their motive is and whether it is related to the referendum, the insurgency or whether they were hired,” Jakthip said.

Last week, Thai Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the bombings were “definitely not an extension” of the insurgency.

Security experts told Reuters that official denial of involvement by Malay-Muslim insurgents was unsurprising as admitting southern insurgents could be involved would have serious economic and security implications for Thailand.

A Thai military court issued an arrest warrant last week for a then unidentified suspect for attempting to bomb a beach on the tourist island of Phuket.

Police on Friday identified the man as Ahama Lengha from Narathiwat, one of the Muslim-majority provinces, but said he has not yet been taken into custody.

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