Maldives jihadi suspect with terror track record freed from custody

The defendant is on trial for leaving the Maldives to join the Syrian war.

Maldives group stopped from going to Syria

Defence Minister Mohamed Shareef put the total number of Maldivians who travelled to Syria at 61.

Government blasts Nasheed over terror threat claims

Mohamed Nasheed said there was a parallel state of religious radicals ready to overrun the country and there were 300 Maldivians fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Maldivian ‘jihadi training’ video released

The hotline number given on the National Counter-terrorism’s website has been unreachable since last year because it is incorrect.

Maldivian man killed in Syria fighting

Local media said the man from Naavaidhu island, who took the name Abu Saad Al-Maldifi, travelled to Syria early this year.

Alleged Maldivian jihadis cleared of intent to join terror group

The first three Maldivian men to be charged with travelling abroad with the intent of joining a terror group have been acquitted of the terrorism charges.

Two Maldivians caught en route to Syria

Two Maldivians en route to join the fighting in Syria have been arrested in Turkey and brought back to the country, according to the police.

Three Maldivians arrested en route to Syria

According to the police, the three men were arrested in a joint operation with the Turkish law enforcement authorities. They were alleged to have been planning to cross the border into Syria to join a militant group.

Court concludes trial of alleged jihadis

Citing audio analysis of conversations, the state prosecutor told the court that one of the defendants told a witness he was in the “sacred land of Shām to seek Jannat-ul Firdaus”.

Fourth Maldivian man ‘on his way to join Syrian civil war’ arrested

A Maldivian man who attempted to cross into Syria to join the civil war there has been arrested and brought back to the Maldives, the police have said.

Jihadi literature distributed after Eid prayer

A group of men with their faces covered reportedly handed out a two-page letter to prayer-goers urging Maldivians to wage jihad. According to the letter, its contents were sourced from Bilad Al Sham, a jihadi media group operated by Maldivians fighting in Syria with the al-Nusra Front.

Some Jihadi recruiters ‘identified and under surveillance’

The government has identified individuals suspected of recruiting Maldivians for militant extremist groups fighting in the Syrian civil war, Defence Minister Adam Shareef Umar revealed today.

MPs question government’s sincerity in tackling jihadi recruitment

Government unveils ‘zero tolerance’ counter-terrorism policy

The government has promised “swift measures” against Maldivians involved with terrorist organisations in a new state policy on combating terrorism and violent extremism. A seven-page policy paper made public on Thursday broadly outlined plans to improve security and conduct de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programmes.

Three Maldivians join extremist group in Syria

The news of the latest Maldivian recruits for jihad comes after President Abdulla Yameen submitted a policy paper on terrorism and violent extremism to the People’s Majlis, seeking the views of lawmakers on “further steps to be taken to address the issue.”

Trial begins for three ‘Jihadis’

Ahmed Latheef, Ahmed Suhail Moosa, and Munawwar Abdulla are the first to stand trial for traveling abroad with the intent of joining a terror group after the offence was criminalised by the controversial 2015 Anti-Terrorism Act.

Three men arrested on Turkey-Syria border charged with terrorism

Prosecutors are seeking terror charges against three Maldivian men who were arrested on the Turkey-Syria border in February. The three are the first to face prosecution for traveling abroad with the intent of joining a terror group under a new anti-terror law.

Three Maldivians en route to Syria extradited

Three Maldivian men have been arrested in Turkey while attempting to illegally cross over into Syria and join extremist militant groups in the war-torn country.

Muted response to death threat against president, vice president

The Maldives government’s response to a YouTube video posted on Monday threatening to kill President Abdulla Yameen and Vice President Ahmed Adeeb and launch terror attacks against the tourism industry has been muted.

Video threats, religious extremism and Maldives tourism

Whether the video message threatening to kill the president and harm tourism is authentic or a hoax, it does a lot of harm for the Maldives’ reputation as a safe and paradise-like honeymoon destination, writes Hawwa Kareem