ALTHOUGH the body of Malaysian lecturer-turned-militant Dr Mahmud Ahmad has not been found, he is no longer active on social media, said Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today.

He said DNA from the former Universiti Malaya lecturer’s next of kin had been taken for identification purposes once the body was found, and until then, Malaysia would not issue any confirmation of Mahmud’s death.

“We cannot confirm until we find his body. But the fact is, he is no longer active on social media giving out instructions,” Hishammuddin told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

“Also a fact is that terrorist groups are not hyping up news that he is still alive. So, consider that he is no longer effective, and based on that, he can be considered dead.”

He added that Marawi in southern Philippines was now free of militants.

It was earlier reported that the Selangor-born Mahmud, 39, might have been killed on October 19.

CNN Philippines recently reported that Mahmud’s remains were found among other bodies under a collapsed building in Malawi.

Mahmud, who was an Islamic studies lecturer, had trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in the late 1990s while he was studying in Pakistan.

He fled to the Philippines in 2014 and joined radical Islamist group Maute after Malaysian authorities put him on their most wanted list.

Also known among extremists as Abu Handzalah, Mahmud was said to be in charge of recruiting fighters and was a point person for foreigners who wanted to join extremist forces in the Philippines, according to the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

He also allegedly funnelled more than 30 million pesos (RM2.5 million) from the Islamic State to buy firearms, food and other supplies for the militants’ Marawi siege. – November 1, 2017.