A senior member of the Islamic State of Indonesian descent who appeared on a Daesh propaganda video showing the execution of a hostage and was said to be close to the militant group’s leader has been killed in Syria.
Muhammad Saifuddin, who was known by various aliases, including Abu Walid, was killed by shrapnel from a tank shell in late January in eastern Deir Ez-Zor province. The US government had placed Saifuddin, alongside two militants from Malaysia and the Philippines, on a special global counter-terrorism list in August 2018.
According to the US Department of Treasury’s website, Saifuddin, also known as Mohammed Karim Yusop Faiz, had gone to Syria to join Daesh in 2014 and taken part in the execution of a prisoner in June 2016. He is believed to have taken an active role in the creation of the Southeast Asian contingent of ISIS.
