A FORMER Universiti Malaya lecturer is expected to take up the mantle as the next leader of the Islamic State (IS) following an IS rampage in Marawi City in southern Philippines.

Dr Mahmud Ahmad, who was an Islamic studies senior lecturer, is believed to have set up shop where the Philippine army is meeting the Maute group in clashes that have seen 44 people killed.

The Star Online has identified Mahmud as the man to build up the IS bastion in Southeast Asia now under the command of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon.

Isnilon was declared the “emir” of IS forces in the Philippines early last year but he was reported to be badly injured in airstrikes by the Philippine military two months ago.

Mahmud is said to have taken the reins and to have led fellow militants to rescue Isnilon in the Marawi siege, according to sources, who said they believe Mahmum hopes to assume leadership should Isnilon be killed.

Sources also said IS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is looking for a new leader for the Southeast Asian faction headed by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, who was killed in a drone attack in Raqqa, Syria.

Sources said Mahmud, or Abu Handzalah is the only trusted lieutenant linked to Abu Bakr besides the injured Isnilon.

Sources said the Maute group consists of Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian, and Filipino Christians who have converted to Islam.

Intelligence sources said it is Mahmud’s plan to form an official Southeast Asian IS faction by uniting the different terror cells in these countries.

However, sources could not estimate the number of Malaysians involved but believe many foreigners are in cohorts with Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao and Basilan.

Philippine officials have yet to disclose the names of the militants killed in Marawi City where intense battles are continuing with the Philippines military trying to recapture parts of the city held by the militants since Tuesday.

Sources have identified two Malaysians, Ustaz Abdurahman Asmawi from Kelantan and Dr Kamsa Yahya from Kedah to have been killed in the gunfight. It could not be confirmed whether they were directly involved with the militant group or were visiting the city.

Among others killed were an Indonesian and a Saudi Arabian, sources said, adding that there were nine Filipinos killed.

Mahmud is among the five known Malaysians who have joined IS forces. He was trained at an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan under Osama bin Laden while studying at Pakistan’s Islamabad Islamic University in the late 1990s. He had returned to Malaysia to lecture at Universiti Malaya.

The other four Malaysians who have left the country are Mahmud’s close aide Mohd Najib Husen, who has since been killed in the Philippines, Selayang Municipal Council employee Muhammad Jo­­rai­mee Awang Raimee, and Darul Islam Sabah members Mohd Amin Baco and Jeknal Adil.

They have worked with other militant groups including Abu Sayyaf in various at­­tacks and crime in the southern Philippines. 

After being exposed as an extremist militant by the Malaysian police  in 2014, Mahmud fled to the Philippines where he become the terror group’s chief recruiter and responsible for training and sending militants to fight in Syria and Iraq. – May 28, 2017.