Mahmud Ahmad has been cited by intelligence sources as being behind a plan to form an IS faction in the region by bringing together extremist groups in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, a report in The Star Online said today.
He is currently in southern Philippines where he is believed to be actively participating in the activities of Islamist radical groups there.
The report said Mahmud is being eyed by IS to take over from Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the radical Abu Sayyaf militia, in creating and commanding the Middle East-based terror movement’s stronghold in Southeast Asia.
Isnilon, who was declared as the Emir of the IS forces in the Philippines early last year, was severely injured in an aerial attack in Basilan some two months back, it said.
It cited sources as saying that IS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was looking for a leader in Southeast Asia after the death of Malaysian coordinator Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi in a drone attack in Raqqa, Syria, on April 29.
Besides Isnilon, Mahmud is the only representative trusted by Baghdadi in this region, the sources reportedly said.
Mahmud, who went to train in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden while studying at the International Islamic University in Islamabad in the late 1990s, had lectured at UM upon returning to Malaysia, the report said.
Also known as Abu Handzalah, he travelled to the Philippines in 2014 after Malaysian police identified him as a militant and the chief recruiter in charge of training and sending others like him to fight in Syria and Iraq, the report said.
Four other Malaysians also followed suit and left for southern Philippines where they worked with militant outfits, including Abu Sayyaf, in launching attacks and conducting criminal activities, it added.
They included his aide Mohd Najib Husen (killed in the Philippines), Selayang Municipal Council employee Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee, and Darul Islam Sabah members Mohd Amin Baco and Jeknal Adil, it said.
The report quoted the Special Branch’s Counter Terrorism Division head Deputy Comm Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay as saying Mahmud was known to be embedded with Abu Sayyaf.
“However, we are still trying to gather enough intelligence to uncover Malaysian militants involved over there (Mindanao),” he reportedly said yesterday.
Ayob added that he suspected Mahmud’s goal lay in him becoming the IS leader in southern Philippines.
According to the report, Mahmud is believed to be currently holed up in Marawi City which is seeing a battle between the Philippines army and the Maute group which has pledged allegiance to IS.
The group is a new radical outfit comprising former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas and some foreign fighters.
The confrontation has reportedly claimed the lives of 44 people, including two Malaysians.
The report also quoted the sources as saying the the Maute group has numerous Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians, and local Filipinos who include former Christians who converted to Islam.
They however could not estimate the exact number of Malaysians there.
The Star had earlier reported two Malaysians killed in the Marawi battle as Abdurahman Asmawi from Kelantan and Kamsa Yahya from Kedah.
The battle reportedly broke out on Tuesday when the Philippine authorities stormed the streets of Marawi to look for Isnilon and his followers in the Maute group.
Malaysians, Indonesians, fighting alongside IS-linked rebels in Marawi