Clip of Malaysian member of Syria insurgency surfaces
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A chilling video of a Malaysian riding in a truck with a group of militants fighting in the Syrian jihadist movement has surfaced on the Internet.
He is one of the 20 Malaysians confirmed by Bukit Aman to have taken part in the uprising in Syria.
The one-and-a-half minute video, which appeared to have been shot by the man who spoke mostly in Bahasa Malaysia with a northern accent, described his joy as they drove off “to the battlefield”.
The authenticity of the video, which had been viewed more than 5,000 times since it was uploaded to syriantube.net on June 7, was verified by Bukit Aman.
“Yes, they are among 20 Malaysians who are identified as having joined the uprising in Syria. We will announce the names of all the Malaysians involved soon,” said spokesman ACP Datin Asmawati Ahmad.
Syriantube.net founder Maher Ra claimed that the video was shot in Allepo, Syria, by a Mohd Lotfi Ariffin from Kuala Ketil, Kedah.
Syriantube has been showing video footage depicting behind-the-scene shots of terrorist activities and atrocities committed by militants in Syria.
Checks on Mohd Lotfi’s Facebook showed that the video did originate from his page on June 3, which had been liked and shared by many Malaysians, some of whom offered words of encouragement.
In a story first broken by Mstar Online and Star Online, the video opened with a shot of a tank from inside a truck.
‘V’ for victory
The tank then rolled away in a bushland with several Middle Eastern looking men, dressed in army fatigue sitting on it. The men were also heavily armed.
“Yes, the tank is moving, making its way to its destination – the battlefield. Allahu Akbar [God is great]! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!” said the cameraman in Bahasa Malaysia.
“These are our friends,” he continued, panning over to show several men – all dressed in combat gear, bulletproof vests, helmets and black bandanas, and with rifles slung around their necks.
Some of the men even smiled and showed the “V” victory sign with their fingers as the camera closed up on them.
Maher claimed that the Malaysians had been in Syria for over a year.
