BELIZE CITY, Mon. Jan. 23, 2017–He was born Nadir Ali Ahmad, a Belizean national, but he died “Abu Naila” (no age provided), a Sudanese/Pakistani national, bomb expert and terrorist.
According to the media in Philippines, he was training there in preparation for a possible deployment in Syria, where he would have fought alongside other terrorist extremists.
However, Naila never made it out of the Philippines because he was killed by government troops who found his hideout as they conducted a manhunt for all the members of the Ansar Al-Khilafah Philippines (AKP), a group supporting ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria)
According to the media in the Philippines, “Abu Naila” was connected to the AKP. The Manila Times even claimed that he had served as the right-hand man of Mohammad Jaafar Magui, the AKP’s leader who, too, was killed in a previous incident by government troops.
Killed along with Abu Naila was his wife, a Filipino woman, identified as “Kadija”, who is also believed to have been a member of the AKP.
On January 7, the couple was shot multiple times and died on the spot after they refused arrest and tried to throw a grenade at security officials who had cornered them in the town of Maasim, situated in the Sarangani province of the Philippines.
Several explosive devices were later found in their hideout.
According to the Philippine Star, Abu Naila purportedly had plans to link with the Islamic State (IS) group the moment he reached Syria, because AKP is an ISIS supporter.
The Philippine Star quoted the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director, General Ronald dela Rosa, as saying, “He [Abu Naila] wanted to fight in Syria, but he first went here in the Philippines to train.”
Following the killing of Naila, authorities in the Philippines were on high alert and even tightened security in various parts of the country in fear that other groups associated with AKP would have sought retaliation.
In June of last year, 19 members of the Ahmad family in Belize were rounded up and detained by police in a pre-dawn operation at their home in Hattieville.
However, no one was charged and police remained tightlipped about the cause of their detention.
Almost 6 months later, on January 7, a member of the Ahmad family would lose his life in a foreign country, reportedly because of his support for ISIS.
There are no indications as to when Abu Naila left Belize.