Malaysia’s counterterrorism chief says lockdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic have been a “blessing in disguise” in reducing the terror threat posed by Islamic State (Isis) supporters in the country, adding that the release of a radical Indonesian cleric is unlikely to reactivate local terror cells of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI). Normah Ishak, head of Counter-Terrorism Division of the Special Branch – the intelligence arm of the Malaysian police – and the first woman to…

This post was originally published on South China Morning Post.