Wednesday, July 2, 2014

UM lecturer among 5 hunted by police for terrorism activities (TMI)

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/um-lecturer-among-5-hunted-by-police-for-terrorism-activities

A lecturer at Universiti Malaya's Academy of Islamic Studies is one of five people wanted by police for involvement in militant activities, according to a list uploaded on the police website today.

The 36-year-old man, identified as Dr Mahmud Ahmad, is a senior lecturer at the Department of Akidah and Islamic Thought, according to the university website.

He and four others are believed to have fled Malaysia and are in hiding in the southern Philippines.

In a statement, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said three of them were involved in recruiting and sending Malaysian recruits to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isil) fighters in Syria, while two were members of Darul Islam Sabah and had joined the Abu Sayyaf.

Sources familiar with the investigation said Mahmud is one of the three Isil recruiters.

“He (Mahmud) is still with the university but has been missing for the past two months,” said the source.

The lecturer, who is married, is also known by his other name, Abu Handzalah.

His last known address was in Batu Caves.

The other two are Mohd Najib Husen from Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, and Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee.

The 36-year-old Mohd Najib owned a photocopy and stationery shop in Universiti Malaya while Muhammad Joraimee, 39, from Batu Caves, is working with the Selayang Municipal Council.

Sources said Mahmud belonged to one of the Islamist groups in Malaysia linked to Isil.

The cell he belonged to was also linked to the group which conducted combat training for Malaysian militants at Gunung Arang Para, in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, in December last year.

Two more people being sought by the police are Mohd Amin Baco, 31, and Jeknal Adil, 30. Both are from Tawau, Sabah.

They are members of Darul Islam Sabah and both are said to have joined the Abu Sayyaf group based in the southern Philippines.

Militant groups in Malaysia are using isolated places, such as the areas around Gunung Arang Para, to hold combat training for Malaysian jihadist who are heading for Syria and Iraq to fight in the civil war.

At least 10 militant members underwent weapons training at the grounds of Gunung Arang Para for two days last December.

Other than Kuala Kangsar, the group also used a training site in Port Dickson.

As more militant groups are discovered in the country, authorities believed there could be more training sites yet to be uncovered.

It is learnt that the militants also trained in the southern Philippines and had made their way to Sabah. They planned to fly to Syria and Iraq, where Isil is carrying out sustained attacks to topple the existing regime.

The Counter Terrorism Division has been rounding up members of the militant group since April 28.

The suspects were detained in Selangor, Kedah, Perak and Sabah.

The latest arrests were made end of last month, involving a Rela member and a Navy personnel.

The Rela member, aged 46, was arrested on June 25 in Kuala Kangsar.

Police seized a home-made rifle and 433 live bullets from him.

Police believed there were more than 100 Malaysian militants in the Middle East fighting for Isil.

The number is based on intelligence reports which the Special Branch had received, a senior police officer from Bukit Aman told The Malaysian Insider. – July 2, 2014.







































3 July 2014 - UM lecturer wanted for recruiting suicide bomber, say police
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/um-lecturer-wanted-for-recruiting-suicide-bomber-say-police

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Pensyarah Akademi Pengajian Islam, Universiti Malaya (UM) adalah salah seorang daripada lima buruan yang dikehendaki polis kerana terlibat dalam militan.

Menurut laman web universiti, Dr Mahmud Ahmad, 36, merupakan pensyarah kanan di Jabatan Akidah dan Pemikiran Islam.

Beliau dan empat lagi dipercayai meniggalkan Malaysia dan kini bersembunyi di selatan Filipina.

Sumber terdekat dengan siasatan berkata Mahmud merupakan satu daripada tiga yang merekrut dan mengaturkan ahli militan di Malaysia untuk dihantar ke Timur Tengah menyertai Militan Kumpulan Negara Iraq dan Jajahannya (Isil).

"Dia (Mahmud) masih dengan universiti namun sudah dua bulan menghilangkan diri," kata sumber itu.

Pensyarah yang sudah mendirikan rumah tangga itu juga dikenali sebagai Abu Handzalah dan alamat terakhirnya adalah di Batu Caves.

Dua yang lain adalah Mohd Najib Husen dari Kota Damansara dan Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee.

Mohd Najib, 36, memiliki kedai photostat dan alatulis di UM sementara Joraimee, 39, dari Batu Caves adalah ahli Majlis Perbandaran Selayang.

Lima termasuk Mahmud dipercayai melarikan diri selepas Unit Cawangan Khas dan Membanteras Keganasan mengesan operasi mereka.

Sumber berkata Mahmud merupakan salah seorang ahli kumpulan Islam yang berkaitan dengan Isil.

Kumpulan yang disertainya juga berkait dengan kumpulan latihan ala tentera di Gunung Ara Para, Kampung Nyior Ketior, Disember tahun lalu.

Dua lagi dalam perhatian polis adalah Mohd Amin Baco, 31, dan Jeknal Adil, 30. Kedua-dua mereka dari Tawau, Sabah.

Mereka adalah ahli Darul Islam Sabah dan kedua-duanya dikatakan menyertai kumpulan Abu Sayyaf yang berpengkalan di Filipina dipercayai tempat mereka bersembunyi.

Kumpulan militan di Malaysia menggunakan kawasan tersembunyi seperti di Gunung Arang Para bagi mengadakan latihan militan sebagai persediaan sebelum terbang ke Syria dan Iraq untuk “berjihad”.

Kawasan Gunung Arang Para digunakan selama dua hari pada Disember lalu oleh sekurang-kurangnya 10 ahli militan bagi menjalankan latihan bersenjata.

Selain Kuala Kangsar, kumpulan itu juga menggunakan kem latihan di Port Dickson.

Lebih banyak kumpulan militan yang ditemui di negara ini, lebih cerah peluang bagi mengesan kawasan latihan yang belum dijumpai.

Difahamkan militan juga dilatih di selatan Filipina dan menuju ke Sabah sebelum terbang ke Syria dan Iraq di mana Isis dan Isil mengadakan serangan bagi menumbangkan kerajaan.

Tangkapan terbaru adalah pada bulan lalu membabitkan angggota Rela dan TLDM.

Ahli Rela, 46, ditahan pada 25 Jun di Kuala Kangsar dan polis merampas rifle buatan sendiri dan 433 peluru hidup daripada tertuduh.

Polis berkata lebih 100 pejuang Malaysia di Timur Tengah berjuang bersama Isil.

Jumlah itu berdasarkan laporan risikan yang diterima Cawangan Khas, kata pegawai kanan polis dari Bukit Aman kepada The Malaysian Insider.


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http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/02/philippine_military.php

Philippine military kills wanted Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Sayyaf operatives in airstrike

By Bill Roggio

February 2, 2012

The Philippine Air Force force killed a senior Jemaah Islamiyah leader, a top Abu Sayyaf Group commander, and 13 others, including a wanted Singaporean terrorist, during an airstrike in Sulu province.

Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the most wanted leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah; Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf commander, and his son Teng; and Muhamad Ali, another wanted JI operative, were all killed in the early morning today in an airstrike, according to the country's top military commander.

Chief of Staff General Jessie Dellosa said the 3 a.m. airstrike targeted a camp in the village of Duyan Kabaw in Parang in the southern province of Sulu. Dellosa expressed certainty that the terrorist leaders had been killed even though the military was not in possession of the dead bodies.

"I am sure because I will not easily issue a statement here," he said, according to Inquirer News. "We have intelligence people and locals in the area."

A military spokesman said the strike, which was carried out by two OV-10 Broncos, light military attack aircraft used in counterinsurgency operations, was the result of months of intelligence gathering. Several 500-pound bombs were dropped on the terrorists' camp. No civilians were reported to have been killed in the strike.

The operation was "based on a thorough, well-executed plan and months of continuous monitoring and surveillance of JI and ASG personalities," Colonel Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., a military spokesman, said during a briefing, Inquirer News reported. In early January, a senior general disclosed that the military was engaged in operations in Sulu hunting for Hir; Muhamad Ali; Qayim and Sa'ad, two Indonesians; and Amin Baco, who is thought to be a Malaysian national.

Although no US involvement in the strike has been reported, US Special Forces are based in the Philippines to aid the government and military in their fight against the al Qaeda-linked groups and to assist in humanitarian efforts. The Philippine constitution prohibits US troops from engaging in combat operations in the country.

Zulkifli bin Hir, a Malaysian national known as "Marwan," is wanted by the US government, which has a $5 million reward out for information leading to his capture. Hir is "an engineer trained in the United States" and "is believed to be the head of the Kumpulun Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) terrorist organization and a member of Jemaah Islamiyah's central command," according to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice website. He is believed to have been sheltering in the Philippines since 2003 and has served as a bomb maker for the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Umbra Jumdail, a senior Abu Sayyaf Group commander who is also known as Doc Abu, is wanted by both the US government, which has offered a $140,000 reward for information leading to his capture, and the Philippine government. He has been involved in numerous kidnappings and assassinations.

Muhamad Ali, a Singaporean national also known as Mauwiya Anjala, is a Jemaah Islamiyah leader who is also wanted by the US, which has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

Jemaah Islamiyah is an Islamist terrorist group that seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state across Southeast Asia. Jemaah Islamiyah is most active in Indonesia and the Philippines, but also conducts operations in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. The terror group is al Qaeda's regional affiliate in Southeast Asia and its operatives have been responsible for devastating attacks in the region, including the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2004 suicide car bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the August 2003 car bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, and a series of bombings in Manila.

The terror group has suffered major setbacks inside Indonesia, with many of its top leaders killed or captured over the past several years. Among them are Dulmatin, a top leader and military commander (killed in 2010); and Noordin Mohammed Top, a senior leader, recruiter, strategist, and fundraiser (killed in 2009). Umar Patek, a top JI leader, was captured in March 2010 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just months before al Qaeda emir Osama bin Laden was killed in the same city in a US special operations raid. Abu Bakir Bashir, the terror group's founder, is currently in prison for founding, financing, and supporting al Qaeda in Aceh.

The Abu Sayyaf Group is a Philippines-based terrorist and criminal gang formed by fighters who returned from the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union. The group was funded and financed by Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, one of Osama bin Laden's brother-in-laws, according to Khaddafy Janjalani, the leader of Abu Sayyaf before he was killed in 2006. Khalifa, an al Qaeda financier and facilitator, was killed by US special operations forces in Madagascar in 2006.



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