TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Malaysian lecturer who quit teaching to go fight with ISIS in Marawi City in the Philippines has been killed, according to reports.

Although there is no concrete evidence that the lecturer turned militant is dead, a source from the intelligence agency told some local media that the former professor is indeed dead.

Dr. Mahmud Ahmad Mahmud, a Malaysian university lecturer who holds a doctorate in religious studies, is among several foreign fighters who joined the Marawi City siege.

According to local reports, Mahmud helped facilitate the transfer of funds from ISIS in Syria through Indonesia to the Philippines for the purpose of funding the May 23 attack on Marawi city.

The transactions were discussed through an encrypted messaging app and the money was transferred via Western Union Money Transfer.

There were claims that Mahmud was to be the next ISIS leader in the region after the death of Isnilon Hapilon.

The Philippines local media reports that Mahmud led fellow militants to Marawi City in order to rescue Isnilon but was unsuccessful and instead got himself killed.

The Straits Times reports that although some hostages confirmed the death of Mahmud, his body has not yet been discovered, and once they find the body a DNA test will be conducted to confirm the identity.

Mahmud was one of the leaders of Katibah Nusantra, an ISIS combat unit in Syria consisting mostly of fighters from Southeast Asia, and which funded the Marawi attack, according to the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict.

The Marawi siege began on May 23 when hundreds of militants led by Isnilon Hapilon stormed the city and held it for months.