Malaysian militant killed in air raid on Marawi City
PETALING JAYA A Malaysian municipal council worker who went to the Philippines in 2014 to join an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-linked militant group was killed last week in Marawi City.
Joraimee Awang Raimee, 42, was killed in an aerial bombing by the military, intelligence sources told The Star newspaper.
He was a division head at Selayang town council in Selangor, and his story reflects how ordinary Malaysians who turned to extremist ideology would suddenly leave home and pick up arms abroad.
He was among a group of three Malaysians with steady jobs who told their families in April 2014 that they were going to the Philippines for a six-day trip.
They did not return after news spread that the police had them on a wanted list.
The others who left with Joraimee were university lecturer Mahmad Ahmad and bookshop salesman Mohd Najib Husen.
Anti-terror officials have said previously that there were at least four Malaysians, including the trio, who were believed to be fighting for militant groups in the Philippines.
An old picture of Joraimee released by the police shows him with short hair and clipped beard in a white shirt and dark suit.
In a later picture from the southern Philippines, Joraimee who was known as Abu Nur among militants, carries a gun and a machete while waving the black flag of ISIS.
Asked to comment on Joraimee having been killed in the Philippines, police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun replied: "Yes, this is what I have received so far. I am unable to give more details at the moment."
It was never explained what turned him and dozens of others to militancy, but officials have said that social media played a big part in spreading extremist ideology. - THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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