Two immigration officers and a suspect in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali are among a group of twelve Maldivians to travel to Syria for jihad, reliable sources have told Minivan News.
Afrasheem murder suspect, Azlif Rauf of Henveiru Hilton, left to Turkey with six members of Malé’s Kuda Henveiru gang four days ago, sources have said. They have now crossed the border into Syria.
The two immigration officers were among a group of six individuals who traveled to Syria on December 27. The five included two women and a one year old infant.
Azlif’s group also included an individual arrested over the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, one man arrested for issuing a death threat, one man classified by the police as a dangerous criminal, and three men with criminal records, local media have reported.
The Maldives Police Services declined to comment on the report.
According to Haveeru, Azlif had attempted to take his pregnant wife, one-year-old son and four-year-old daughter with him, but his wife’s family had prevented them from accompanying him.
Hussain Humam Ahmed, now serving a life sentence over the Afrasheem murder, named Azlif and five others in the organising of the killing in October 2012. Humam later retracted the confession claiming it had come under duress.
The police have forwarded accomplice to murder charges against Azlif to the Prosecutor General’s Office, but charges have not yet been filed at the Criminal Court.
The Criminal Court in December fined Azlif and ordered him to pay back a MVR50,000 loan to the Bank of Maldives.
An investigative report published by Maldivian Democratic Network (MDN) identified Azlif’s brother Arlif Rauf as the owner of a red car which may have been used in an abduction reported on the night Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan disappeared.
Eyewitnesses told Minivan News they saw a man being forced into a red car at knifepoint in front of Rilwan’s apartment building around the time he would have reached home on August 8.
According to MDN’s report, police were investigating Arlif’s car for having been illegally imported to Hulhumalé on August 4, and returned to Malé sometime between August 13 – 15.
It also suggested gang leaders had been exposed to radical Islam during incarceration in prison, saying that they openly supported the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and recruited jihadists for the war in Syria and Iraq.
Last month, Home Minister Umar Naseer reported that there are more than seven Maldivians fighting in foreign civil wars.
In November, a jihadist media group called Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM) – which describes itself as ‘Maldivians in Syria’ – revealed that a fifth Maldivian had died in Syria.
BASM had made a threat to Rilwan shortly before his disappearance in which they stated ‘his days were short’.
Earlier in November, Sri Lankan police detained three Maldivians who were allegedly preparing to travel to Syria through Turkey.
The incident followed reports of a couple from Fuvahmulah and a family of four from Meedhoo in Raa Atoll travelling to militant organisation Islamic State-held (IS) territories.
This article previously incorrectly stated two immigration officers were among the group of seven Maldivians to travel to jihad in January. The officers were in fact among a group of six who traveled to Syria in December.
Related to this story
Six Maldivians reported as latest to travel for jihad, taking one-year-old infant
More than seven Maldivians fighting in foreign civil wars, reveals home minister
MDN investigation implicates radicalised gangs in Rilwan’s disappearance
Police detain Maldivian jihadis caught in Sri Lanka
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These guys couldn't even point out Syria on a map. Traveling to distant countries to spread the message of peace and tolerance. Maybe they should just stay at home and worry about their own backyard before joining other people's wars. Or meet their fate in Syria, that's fine too.
International community should hold this rogue government and question the integrity of its Police. How on earth can a convict under house arrest leave the country, without the consent of the police or immigration.
Off the top of my head I'd say that it would be an interesting proposal to round up all the hardcore criminals, drug dealers, substance abusers, murderers and other criminal elements and just ship them off to Syria with an express agreement between IS and GOM that these "warriors" be placed on the Suicide Squad or at the front lines where they'll quickly go to "paradise". Problem solved as far as the gang violence and violent criminal activities in Maldives are concerned.
The danger will be if any of these criminals ever return to Maldives
See whats happening in Europe
The poor Syrians. More low IQ Maldivian jihadis on the way. Maldivian jihadis are unique because they bring the wife, kids and motherinlaw along. They take stupidity to a new level.
India and Sri Lanka should look out for these morons and lock then up if found transiting through their countries.
Some rich guy should offer all of them free one way air tickets to join ISIS. It will be a humanitarian gesture.
@ Z
I agree with you this. May I also recommend that we include Sheikh Imran as Head of this Dhivehi Brigade?
Maybe the government should arrange for a monthly chartered flight offering free one way tickets direct to Syria. That way potential members for Dhivehi Brigade wouldn't have to worry about "crossing over" from Turkey.
Soon enough the rest of us can finally live in peace here in the Maldives.
Caught trying to escape the country you mean. Its time we label these people as criminals rather than Jihadis.
After the warm up session in Maldives, They are navigating through Syria on course to Republic of J.F.
What we need to do is send off all the DOT extremists, Sheikh Imran and his Adhaalth's top fundamentalist preachers to Syria so that they can quickly go to Paradise from there.
More importantly, Majlis should pass a law to bar citizenship for any Maldivian who has gone to Syria or any other country to fight for extremist causes or terrorism. By law we must prevent their return to Maldives.
For the sake of peace and stability in Maldives, it is a sacred duty upon the Government to rid this country of all forms of religious extremism.
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. A bunch of power hungry Sunni extremists are trying to hijack Islam to grab power and spread their barbarism under the guise of Islam. They target vulnerable youth in Islamic societies for subversion.
Islamic extremism and fundamentalism are the single biggest threat facing Muslim societies. They are an existential threat to peaceful, tolerant Muslim countries. The threat they pose western nations are secondary compared to the chaos they are unleashing in Muslim countries.
Hamdhan on Thu, 8th Jan 2015 7:42 PM
The rest of the world doesn't want your terrorists, so don't block their return to the Maldives. Punish them in the same manner they treat others, flog them, hang them or whatever punishment fits the crimes.
Until the Maldives wakes up and gets its heads out of its a*** and realises that religious beliefs are not to be enforced and people have a right to choose what religion they follow, then I am afraid the Maldives will continue to cultivate extremism and fundamentalist, because they don't experience living in a tolerant society and only hear bigoted views of other cultures.
The Islam I read about doesn't place a compulsion to follow Islam, but expresses the foundation to respect people of other faiths. Something that is seriously lacking in the Maldives and an issue that will destroy your society in future generations.
At this rate if the non-Muslims of the world sit back at a distance and do nothing they can watch all these so called Jihadist rip the fabric of Islamic world apart in the name of a perverted distortion of faith that seems to prevail in todays version of Islam, whilst countries like the Maldives continue to deny they have a serious problem of unchallenged radicalisation in the core of its society.
Radicalization started and its been supported by Nasheed thinking that these issues could help him to bring back him to power by external force.
Hamdhan had said well .
@DMF. You have a distorted information about the people of Maldives.
99% of Maldivian does not hate non muslims and they respect non muslims alike.
Only small faction of Malvian has that extreme views and they even consider those who does agree their terms , even Maldivian as thier enemy .
For them Islam is only thier version and who does agree with thier version of Islam are not Muslims.
Please do not generalized the views of few people as "Maldivian " views.
Hero on Fri, 9th Jan 2015 4:16 PM
99%? are you are living on a different planet.
2008 Maldives changed the constitution too ensure all citizen must follow Islam or loose their Maldivian nationality. Over 5000 became stateless over night........respect for others
2010 a young man publically declares he is not a follower of Islam and is dragged off by crowds demanding he be flogged and hanged.......respect for others.
2011 Crowds destroy SAARC monuments......respect for others.
2012 crowds destroy historic buddhist artifacts.............respect for others.
2013 man jailed for having Christian literature............respect for others.
Every other day you are on this site insulting people from India, calling them dung worshippers............respect for others.
No, I believe that I have the correct view of your imaginary 1% of Maldivians. You are living proof of that statement given your history of posts on this site.
hmm! there goes the evidence.
@ DMF
Thank you for confirming what I have known all along. That Maldivians are are a bunch of backward and bigoted people
That is why I am against Maldivians buying Indian goods and travelling to India to abuse its low cost educational and medical facilities. Particularly annoying is the odious practice of old men with low incomes and even lower IQ coming to India in search of wives from the poor muslim community. What is wrong with the women on the atolls? Why should Indian women be chosen as low cost domestic and sex slaves to eke out a life of servitude on some primitive atoll, veiled and locked up in some squalid high walled house with blacked out windows?
Maldivians should keep their intolerant stone age culture to themselves.
Hope your water treatment plant hasn't conked out or else your foreign mi kster will be sharpish on the phone to our
MissIndia NewDelhi on Sat, 10th Jan 2015 4:06 PM
Miss India, I am afraid you are as bad as Hero with your slanderous slurs against Maldivians.
There is a difference between critical analysis of a situation and the verbal assault you publish on a regular basis.
I could also point a finger at India, but because I have no ties to India I choose to limit my observation to the Maldives, where my wife was born and where many of my friends still live in hope that if enough people raise a voice the issue of being a follower a Islam is no longer a condition of Nationality.
If you truly wish to see a bigoted person take a look in the mirror.
DMF
Love your comment.Hero is a total moron.Maldivians are a paranoid xanophobic bunch
Hero
seriously dude.Do you have any other tune to sing.You gotta stop playing that nasheed card.People are not interested in that card anymore.oh i forogot your hero is umaru naseer isnt it