Another Maldivian jihadist has reportedly been killed in the ongoing civil war in Syria.
Mihaaru understands that the 25 year old man was killed during clashes between President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and jihadists on Monday afternoon.
The man from the capital Male, formerly belonged to a notorious gang operating in Male.
The government and the opposition has continuously been at odds over the number of Maldivians heading to the war torn Middle east nation.
In late June, Mihaaru found a massive contradiction in the government’s official number of Maldivians joining foreign conflicts with police placing its official figure at 180, significantly more than what the government had let on.
Defence minister Adam Shareef had revealed in June that the number of Maldivian jihadists fighting abroad was at 49 and were mostly made up of ex-convicts and school dropouts.
Sources say the actual figure includes suspects in ongoing police investigations and others flagged for suspicious activity.
Various relevant international bodies and the opposition has insisted that the number of locals joining the Syrian conflict is at 250 which would make Maldives with the highest number of fighters in Syria per capita.
The contradiction in the figures emerged after a local who had been fighting abroad for a terrorist group was arrested upon his return to the Maldives.
The arrest comes days after the defence minister said the government has been able to identify some of the jihadi recruiters operating in the Maldives.
Government has looked to implement several measures in a bid to to curb rising violent extremism ideology in the archipelago.
The parliamentary committee on Tuesday unanimously passed the national policy on extremism forwarded by president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
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