Senior Indonesian ISIS ‘executioner’ killed in Syria’s eastern province

A N INDONESI A N mi l ita nt who appeared on an Islamic State in Iraq and Sy ria (ISIS) propaga nda v ideo show ing t he execut ion of a hostage and was said to be close to the milita nt g roup’s leader was k illed in Sy ria last month, an Indonesian police spokesman and his brot her said.

Muhammad Saifuddin, who was known by various aliases, including Abu Walid, was killed by shrapnel from a tank shell in late January in eastern Deir Ezzor province, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said in a text message.

Pol ic e Br igad ier- Genera l Pra set yo descr ibed hi m a s a n ISIS “e xe c ut ioner a nd soldier”.

Muinudinillah Basri, Saifuddin’s brother, said by telephone he had learned of his brother’s death after receiving a photo of his body.

He had not seen his brother since he left for Syria with his wife and children, he said.

The US government had placed Saifuddin, alongside two militants from Malaysia and the Philippines, on a special global counter-terrorism list last August.

According to the US Department of Treasur y’s website, Sa i f udd i n, a lso k now n a s Moha mmed Ka r i m Yusop Faiz, had gone to Syria to join ISIS in 2014 and taken part in the execution of a prisoner in June 2016.

He had previously been imprisoned in the Philippines for nine years on charges of illegal possession of explosives and weapons, it said.

‘Important figure’

Sof y a n Ts au r i, a for mer I ndonesia n mi l it a nt , s a id Saifuddin was “an important figure” in ISIS who represented its South-east Asian contingent and had been close to t he group’s leader Abu Bakr a l-Baghdadi.

Last weekend, the USbacked Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an assault seeking to wipe out the last remnants of the Islamist group’s “caliphate” in the SDF’s area of operations in eastern and northern Syria.

The enclave is close to the Iraqi border and comprises two villages.

ISIS still retains territory in the part of Syria that is mostly under the control of the Russian and Iranian-backed Syrian government.

With more than 200 million Muslims, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. This number is roughly equal to 13 per cent of the total number of Muslims in the world.

Indonesia is not an Islamic state ruled by Islamic law.

As most Indonesians can be labelled moderate Muslims, the majority thus approves of a secular democracy and a pluralist society.