The explosion at a nightclub in Puchong on 28th June was the first incident by Daesh (ISIS) militants in Malaysia, the national police have confirmed.

At a press conference in Bukit Aman, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed public speculation that the explosion caused by a grenade at Movida Puchong was the first terrorist attack in the country, reported Bernama.

He stated that two suspects, aged 19 and 25, were acting under instructions from the Malaysian branch of Daesh.

The two suspects were instructed by a member of the terrorist organisation to attack entertainment outlets in the countries, as well as senior leaders, the police and judges.

During their investigations, the police found weapons and Daesh paraphernalia, such as flags, that were in the suspects’ possession. The two men who were arrested hail from Johor, and the Inspector-General also noted that the police are tracking down two more suspects who were involved.

In the explosion last week, eight people were injured while watching a football match. Thankfully, there were no fatalities.

‘Daesh’ or ‘ISIS’?

If you’re wondering why we used the word Daesh when referring to the terrorist group more commonly known as ISIS, it’s because ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – in it’s original Arabic name, Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham. This group’s objective is to restore an Islamic state in the region of Iraq and Syria.

Daesh, on the other hand, is short for Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq wa al-Sham, which means Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria/Levant. Similar, right? But Daesh is also an Arabic insult that means ‘to trample down and crush’ or ‘a bigot who imposes his view on others’, as explained by Zeba Khan in The Boston Globe.

Many Arabic-speaking media refer to the group as Daesh, and the militants hate it. It takes away their legitimacy. They’ve threatened to harm anyone who refers to them as Daesh, preferring instead to be called ISIS.

However, even the French government has decided to start using the term Daesh instead and have urged French media to do the same. The French Foreign Minister said, “this is a terrorist group, not a state”, as quoted by The Independent.