A Malaysian involved in the attack on Marawi City in the Philippines was killed last week, three years after he left a steady job in Selangor to become a militant.

The story of Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee, a former senior worker at a municipal council, reflects a worrying trend of ordinary Malaysians who would suddenly leave home and take up arms abroad, after turning to extremist ideology.

Another Malaysian who left with him to take up arms in the Philippines was former bookshop salesman Mohd Najib Husen, who was killed in December 2015 in a firefight with Filipino security forces.

A third man who left Malaysia in April 2014 with the duo was former university lecturer Mahmud Ahmad. He was one of the planners of the attack on Marawi City, where militants have been holed up for four months.

SEE TOP OF THE NEWS