May this year saw Indonesia swept by a wave of terror attacks involving suicide bombers that targeted churches and the police headquarters in the city of Surabaya. What set this chain of events apart was the fact that they were carried out by members of the same families. In the incidents, the father and mother either shared militant roles with their children, or took their children along on their mission.

Last week, Indonesia was swept with a wave of terror attacks. The most recent attack took place on 16 May, when four sword-wielding insurgents attacked officers at Riau police headquarters in Sumatra. Prior to that, Surabaya – Indonesia’s second largest city – was targeted with a string of bombings. On 9 May, a family of suicide bombers attacked three churches in Central Surabaya, killing at least 15 people.

The Delhi Declaration that was announced recently during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit is a mutual commitment “to further deepen and strengthen” the strategic partnerships of all 10 ASEAN countries with India. One of the more interesting highlights of the declaration is the call for stronger partnerships in countering terrorism within the region.

The launch of Jakarta's new cyber security agency, the National Cyber and Encryption Agency (BSSN) brings Indonesia one step closer to combating the spread of terrorism through online and social media platforms. The new agency will target, among other things, the abuse of social media platforms by terrorist groups to secure much-needed financing as well as to recruit and train members in remote locations.

Southeast Asia is no stranger to acts of terrorism – from the 1975 hostage crisis in Kuala Lumpur perpetrated by the Japanese Red Army and, the recent bloody battle which took place in the southern city of Marawi in the Philippines. The latter is most likely the freshest incident in our minds. The siege of Marawi lasted 5 months, left more than 1,000 dead was the region’s first full-blown encounter with the terrors of the Islamic State (IS).

On 23 September, the Islamic State (IS) Al-Hayat media wing released a three-minute propaganda video featuring radicalised Singaporean, Megat Shahdan Abdul Samad. In the video, he urged Muslims to wage religious war – or jihad – in East Asia and bring upon “black days” on “crusaders” here.

Face-scans or fingerprints will be needed to buy SIM cards in Thailand from next month as the kingdom tries to crack down on electronic fraud and encourage mobile banking.The new biometric system – which follows similar requirements in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – will begin on December 15, according to the telecoms regulator. "We're entering the digital age, our money now is linked to mobile services.

King Bhumibol AdulyadejHundreds of thousands of Thais gathered in the capital city of Bangkok, Thailand, to say their final goodbyes to King Bhumibol Adulyadej during the four-day cremation ceremony.

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the deadly 2002 Bali bombings. On October 12, 2002, tragedy hit Indonesia when three bombs devastated the world-renowned tourist island of Bali. The attack took the lives of 202 individuals from 21 countries across the world.The incident took place only one year after the 911 attack in the US.

The 10 member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are strengthening their cooperation and strategies to counter the continuous rise of radicalisation and violent extremism in the region, which may lead to terrorism in all forms and manifestations.