Malaysians Helped Film IS Execution Video: Police

Updated at 4:25 p.m. ET on 2015-12-07

Authorities have named two Malaysian members of the Islamic State (IS) terror group who allegedly took part in the videotaped execution last month of a Syrian man, Malaysia’s The Star newspaper reported Wednesday (March 4).

The two belong to Majmu'ah al Arkhabiliy, a new unit within IS made up of Malaysian and Indonesian nationals, which replaced an older one named Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiah in Syria and Iraq, the newspaper said, citing a senior police official.

The wing is believed to consist of more than 100 fighters from across Southeast Asia, the Malay Mail Online reported.

The two Malaysians in the 30-minute video, which was posted on Facebook on Feb. 22, were identified as Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, 25, from the town of Durian Tunggul in Malacca state, and Mohd Faris Anuar, 20, from Gurun, Kedah state.

Ayob Khan Mydin, deputy chief of the Royal Malaysian Police’s counter-terrorism division, released grainy, black-and-white photos of the two men, and one of Wanndy’s wife. She was identified as Nor Mahmudah Ahmad, 26, from Baling, Kedah state, according to the The Star, which broke the story.

She and her husband went off to Syria together in January, while Faris left for the Middle East last September.

The video showed Wanndy signaling with his index finger toward the camera, which Faris operated in recording the Syrian’s beheading, police believe. Another militant, identified as an Indonesian, is also seen holding up the Syrian’s head after decapitation and yelling “Allahuakbar,” the Star reported.

Investigators determined that the voice of the person shooting the video belonged to Faris.

The footage was uploaded to a Facebook account under the name of one Abu Hamzah al-Fateh, the Star reported, but the page is no longer visible.

Arrests

In an effort to stem IS’s influence in Malaysia and prevent the group from radicalizing and recruiting youths, the Malaysian government since last year has aggressively pursued suspected IS members and sympathizers.

On Tuesday, The Star reported the arrests of three more people with alleged links to IS, including a civil servant said to be one of its most senior members in Malaysia.

The man, arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Monday (March 2), allegedly set up Facebook accounts for Malaysians fighting with IS in Syria, The Star reported.

"The third suspect is a 39-year-old government department officer, identified as a senior IS member," Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement announcing the arrests.

The other two are a 29-year-old woman, arrested in Muar on Saturday, who is suspected of recruiting a 14-year-old girl to join the extremist group; and a 22-year-old man, nabbed in Perak on Monday, thought to have funded the girl’s planned trip to Cairo to marry a Malaysian IS recruit.

All three are being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for terrorism activities, The Malaysian Insider said.

The 14-year-old girl was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in mid-February just before boarding a plane to Egypt.

An earlier version incorrectly described alleged roles played by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi and Mohd Faris Anuar in the video of the execution and gave the length of the video as 30 seconds.