Instead of leaving the country as per the Foreign Ministry’s travel advisory, no less than 30 Malaysians have been entering Iraq to enlist in the militant organization Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is currently wrekaing havoc in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation.
According to intelligence reports viewed by Hariz Mohd and Rahmat Khairulrijal of The New Straits Times, ISIS and other “muhajidin” groups similar to it have been recruiting Malaysians through social media, as well as small religious consultative groups (“usrah“) for the past several years.
This seems to just be the beginning of a worrying trend; sources say more Malaysians are planning to head over to the region and join the ISIS militants, who are now advancing towards the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, and are also pressing against government forces in Syria.
Recently, the Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Department (SB-CTD) arrested 15 such would-be local militants.
“Based on surveillance and information gathered, police found that ISIS’s recruitment drive here had revolved around two methods — the use of social media and usrah sessions,” said the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“The recruiting exercises were conducted by ISIS members here, led by two of the 15 suspects whom SB-CTD had picked up in connection with Isis-related activities.”
It is learnt that the Malaysians signing up with ISIS did so mostly out of a sentiment of wanting to protect and liberate Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Syria from oppression.
“Some of the Malaysians who joined ISIS’s battles were also known to have been killed in action, while many have stayed there to continue fighting.”
This includes Ahmad Tarmimi Maliki, a 26-year old factory worker regarded as the first Malaysian suicide bomber. Ahmad Tarmimi died in a suicide bomb attack against the Iraqi military’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) headquarters in Al-Anbar on May 26. 25 Iraqi soldiers were killed in the attack.
Last Friday, SB-CTD operatives arrested three men, aged between 29 and 31, including a Royal Malaysian Navy sailor in Sandakan, Sabah.
The three men, one of whom is allegedly a senior member of a militant group who had undergone training with Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, were detained to facilitate investigations into ISIS-related activities.
The Malaysian Armed Forces will initiate an investigation of its own into the activities of the naval officer.
Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri said RMN would take over the investigation once the police completed their probe.
“The case is under police investigation. We will conduct our internal investigation once we receive the full report from the police,” he said.
Photo: www.telegraph.uk
Reader Interactions