Kuala Lumpur: A 26-year-old woman doctor was among the 22 Malaysians in Syria reportedly involved in the activities of terrorist group Islamic State (IS), police confirmed.
The doctor was married to a Malaysian, who was a member of the IS group, police counter-terrorism official Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay said.
"We are trying to establish her identity and obtain more information about the woman's family. We are investigating how she could have been influenced to go there (Syria)," Khan was quoted as saying by official Bernama news agency.
Khan said the doctor was very active on social media and was attempting to recruit Malaysian women through a Facebook account. He, however, said the women did not realise there have been reports of exploitation of women and girls by the ruthless militant group.
According to the United Nations, the IS militants kidnapped women and girls and forced them to be sex slaves. Khan also said that a couple, a 23-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman, who hailed from Selangor and Terengganu states respectively, were among the 22 in Syria.
"A Malaysian man aged 35 had also gone to Syria with his 46-year-old wife, a foreign national," he said.
Since the launch of a special operation by the Counter Terrorism Division on April 28 this year, 22 people have been detained on suspicion of having been involved in militant activities, the report said.
The ISIS militants have captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria and their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared himself as Caliph of the Islamic State.
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