KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Three Malaysian terror suspects are believed to be in the southern Philippines island province of Basilan, teaching the Abu Sayyaf group new bomb-making techniques, says the Philippine military.
Western Mindanao Naval Forces Chief of Staff navy captain Roy Vincent Trinidad said this information came following a clash yesterday morning between Armed Forces and the terrorist group in Muhammad Ajul town where two Abu Sayyaf members were killed.
“Villagers were alarmed over the reported presence of the Malaysians and the display of the black Shahada flag, so they decided to lead an operation (against the Abu Sayyaf coddlers), which we supported,” Trinidad said in a report by the Philippine Inquirer.
He said residents of Barangay village in Tuburan were referring to Malaysian nationals Mohammad Najib @ Anas; Mohammad Joraimi Awang Raimee @ Jandal; and Dr Mahmud Ahmad @ Handzalahdoc who were regularly spotted by Tuburan villagers in the area.
Two improvised explosive devices, unlike previous explosives seized from the Abu Sayyaf which were made of paint cans and a small solar panel attached to a cellular phone, which served as the triggering device were seized in the operations.
Also recovered in the area were two flags bearing Arabic words, which according to Muslim scholars, were Shahada flags often used by mujahideen, or Muslim religious fighters, in their fight against religious oppression.
However, the military immediately denied that the flags came from the ISIS group.
The Malaysians were believed to have escaped together with the bandits in yesterday’s scuffle.
Malaysian authorities said they have been hunting down Mahmud and the other militants who belong to the Darul Islam Sabah, a Malaysian group closely linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Mahmud, who has been identified as a militant recruiter for the Islamic State terror groups was a former University Malaya Islamic Studies lecturer while Mohammad Joraimi was a secretariat staff with the Selayang city council.
