KUALA LUMPUR: Once wanted for several attempted murders and his involvement in armed bank robberies, former Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) leader Zainuri Kamaruddin is gearing up to lead the charge in the Islamic State’s (IS) war against Malaysia.
Leading the dozens of Malaysians who form the Malay-speaking IS arm, Katibah Nusantara, Zainuri and his men, who are fighting in Syria under the banner of the global terror group, are also doubling up as coaches to children being trained as fighters.
In a newly released IS propaganda video, Zainuri said he and his men were part of a righteous army that would shake those they labelled as sinners to the core.
In the high-definition video, Zainuri looked straight into the camera and declared that the Malay archipelago would someday be swarming with an army of IS fighters, who would bring the fight home, particularly to Malaysia and Indonesia.
He said the global terror group had declared Malaysia and its people as toghut (sinners or those against the teachings of Allah) and must be fought.
In a reaction, federal police Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (SB-CTD) chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said police were monitoring IS sympathisers in the country.
Ayob said the fact that Zainuri was a well-known figure among those who shared the same cause as IS, made him a rather influential personality.
Zainuri, 49, who once served time for possession of firearms and explosives, left the country in April 2014 to join IS in Syria.
He escaped an ambush by the Bashar al-Assad army in August 2014 with only injuries to the neck and thigh. His comrade, Zainan Harith, 52, also a former KMM member, was killed.
“To this group (IS), basically everyone in the country, save for their supporters, be it our religious scholars or leaders, those with parties with Islam as their pillar, are all sinners who must be fought at all costs.
“To them, the democratic system we are practising is the West’s creation and all those in it have gone against the teachings they sanction and hence, must be stopped.”
Ayob said SB-CTD was not buying into the dramatic footage in the video, in which Zainuri led a group of Malaysians and Indonesians, including children in battle fatigues, in throwing their passports into a bonfire.
Zainuri said the act was a declaration that they had severed all ties with their homeland.
Ayob said his division was aware of the countries that these men would go to make fake passports.
If these men did come back to Malaysia, he said, they would not be passing through the lanes reserved for Malaysians.
He told the New Straits Times that counterterrorism operatives knew exactly those who were now in Syria.
There were three other Malaysians in the 16-minute video. Zainuri was only featured in the last two.
Ayob identified the other three as Muhammad Nashrullah Abd Latif, 24, from Grik, Perak; Sazrizal Mohd Sofian, 26, from Seri Kembangan, Selangor, and Abd Khalid Dari, 54, from Sik, Kedah. They left Malaysia for Syria in 2014.
Since 2013, his team has crippled nine planned attacks by IS members in the country.
The counterterrorism operatives are, however, preparing for the worst as they see a steady increase in IS’ influence in the region.
“The increasing trend in statistics involving IS in the region is an indication of the increasing strength in their footing in the region.
“Our guard is up... there is the northern border that is so vast, the influence from IS alliances in southern Philippines and possible lone-wolf attacks.
“At this point in time, we are comforted in knowing that many IS supporters here do not have the technical and practical know-how in planning and staging terror attacks.”
Ayob said one particular area of expertise the members lacked was bomb-making.
He said they would learn from the Internet in putting together improvised explosive devices, but had not been able to try them out for real.
The April 25, 2015, Gunang Nuang case, where SB-CTD arrested 11 men ready to try out their bomb-making skills, was the closest they got to refining their skills.
“We have reason to believe that they could be picking up this skill from those across the border.
“IS supporters here are trying to establish contact with IS elements from areas like southern Philippines.”