Maldives Police Service, on Thursday night, confirmed the arrest of a local insurgent who returned to Maldives after fighting in the ongoing Syrian civil war.
According to police, the arrested insurgent is 34-year-old male.
Authorities revealed no further details of the case, but asserted that police's Serious and Organised Crime Department is currently investigating the matter.
The issue of growing religious extremism in Maldives raised alarm in 2019, urging authorities to take action against those spreading extremist ideologies in the island nation.
Commissioner of Police (CP) Mohamed Hameed declared in December 2019 that many insurgents who fought in the Syrian and Afghan conflicts returned to Maldives and continued to spread extremist ideologies in the country.
At the time authorities revealed statistics pertaining to the issue, disclosing that 59 insurgents were in Syria at the time, out of which most are children.
The statistics also noted that 432 individuals from across Maldives took interest in taking part in the Syrian conflict and attempted to travel to the warzone, and approximately 1,400 individuals are following the ideologies of Islamic State and will not hesitate to kill for their cause.
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