Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi is pictured with his wife and their child in Syria. ― Malay Mail pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The authorities are working to bringing home Nor Mahmudah Ahmad, the widow of slain Islamic State (IS) terrorist Muhammad Wanndy Mohd Jedi, from Syria after she pleaded to return following the deaths of their three sons in a bombing nine months ago.

The Straits Times today reported federal counter-terrorism chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay acknowledging the move may be unpopular, but said Malaysia has a “duty” to assist its citizens.

“We are in the midst of processing the repatriation. But it is unsure when she will be brought back.

“She has finally realised [she is in the wrong] and she feels stuck,” he told the Singapore daily.

The senior policeman added that if Malaysia rejected its own, it may strengthen the extremist movement.

“If we abandon them, the terror group would manipulate it to reignite their spirit and ideology by saying we refused to help when they ask for it. We don’t want to fall into that narrative.

“They are Malaysians and it is our duty to help. Some may not agree with what we’re doing but if we ignore their call for help, it would push them further away from rejecting the ideology,” he reportedly said.

Ayob acknowledged that there is likely to be public opposition to Nor Mahmudah’s return home but pointed out that there is a need to contain the problem at the “core” to prevent a worse outcome.

“And by worse, I mean them launching attacks on foreign lands out of frustration. Who is going to be responsible for that?”

Ayob said Nor Mahmudah, who is currently at the Al-Houl refugee camp, must undergo mandatory deradicalisation programme once she is back on Malaysian soil

Her late husband Wanndy was one of the top recruiters for the IS terror group in Iraq and Syria.

He was said to be one of the brains behind the 2016 terror attack in Puchong, Selangor when two men then aged 22 and 25, threw a grenade into the Movida bar, injuring four men and four women there.

Wanndy was killed in a US drone attack in April 2017 in Raqqa, then the Syrian capital of the IS network.

Nor Mahmudah reportedly remarried a Belgian IS fighter after the deaths of Wanndy and their three children.

If she is repatriated, her alleged new husband will not be allowed into Malaysia as he is not a citizen here.