Malaysian woman marries ISIS fighter over Skype, tries to join him
04-01-2015 11:49 PM
Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A 27-year-old Malaysian woman was recently arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for allegedly attempting to travel to Syria, according to local reports. She was going to join her husband – a Moroccan fighter from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group she met online and married over Skype shortly before her arrest.
"We believe that she was first attracted to IS [ISIS] after watching its propaganda video on YouTube in November," Malaysian daily The Strait Times quoted Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar as saying.
"She then got to know the North African fighter and eventually married him. He managed to persuade her to join him in Syria," he continued.
Khalid added that the woman, who is reportedly a college dropout, was arrested on Christmas Eve at KLIA and was planning to go first to Turkey on her way to Syria.
Her detainment was followed by the arrest of another alleged ISIS-sympathizer.
Speaking about the arrest of the 22-year-old man, Khalid said: “He was influenced by videos of ISIS fighters and he interacted with Malaysian fighters in Syria,” according to the Inquirer.
“We will check further on the extent of his involvement.”
ISIS now holds large swathes in Syria and Iraq and has reportedly killed nearly 2,000 people since it started its campaign in June last year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate’s social media propaganda has successfully attracted thousands of foreign fighters around the world.
*Al Arabiya