KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 ― The police are still waiting for official confirmation on whether Malaysians were responsible for the recent two suicide attacks in Iraq and Syria that reportedly claimed 33 lives, according to Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar today.

Khalid said without documentation to prove the men’s identities, it was still possible that the two reportedly involved in the attacks had been merely posing as Malaysians.

“Maybe people are using their identity as Malaysians,” he told reporters during a press conference at Bukit Aman today.

“But for the recent one, we wait for official documents,” he added.

Khalid noted that the police have previously identified the Malaysians involved in terrorist activities in the Middle East and have continued to closely monitor them.

“We know there are Malaysians there and we have been notified that they have been involved as suicide bombers before. We are keeping tabs,” he said.

Khalid also revealed another incident in Sungai Petani where a 16-year old held a woman at knife point after being influenced by the Islamic State (IS) teachings.

The individual was said to have been brainwashed by the terror group through social media and wanted to prove himself capable of such acts by threatening the woman.

“We need to identify these wild ones. He had no intention to hurt the woman but wanted to show he is an IS member and is able to do what is requested by the people. People should know the threat is real,” Khalid said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday posted on his social media account that he was “shocked and appalled” to hear that Malaysians were reportedly involved in the recent bombings.

According to a New Straits Times report yesterday, two Malaysian suicide bombers blew themselves up in two separate incidents in Iraq and Syria last week, killing 33 people in the process.

The two individuals were identified as Mohd Amirul Ahmad Rahim, 26, and Mohamad Syazwan Mohd Salim, 31, according to the English daily.

The daily also reported that the Terengganu-born Amirul detonated himself while in a car during clashes at the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa on December 29, while Syazwan detonated his suicide vest while clashing with a group of police officers at the Speicher military base north of Baghdad.

The NST report added that Amirul was among the 16 fighters who were killed the day the IS launched its offensive on the 44th Syrian Democratic Forces coalition, which resulted in the death of 21 Kurdish fighters.

Syazwan’s attack, on the other hand, killed some 12 policemen, including three officers.

Both youths reportedly joined the the Islamic State movement after leaving Malaysia in 2014.

The duo’s death brings the total of Malaysians who have died while fighting for the IS to 17, with six of them being suicide bombers.

IS supporters have celebrated the death of the duo, hailing them as the “chosen ones” and calling them “martyrs”.