Terrorism | Australian who joined Kurdish forces in Syria sent home

An Australian who joined Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State militants in Syria has returned to Australia where he was questioned by police after being deported from Germany. Ashley Dyball was met by Australian Federal Police at Melbourne Airport late Sunday night and interviewed for four hours before he was released to his family early yesterday morning. His lawyer Jessie Smith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Dyball he was interviewed and “released without charge pending further inquiry.” Australian Federal Police said in a statement: “The public can rest assured that any Australian who is identified as a threat to security will be investigated by the relevant agencies.”

Pakistan | Intel officials say Malik attended religious school

Pakistani intelligence officials say the California shooter Tashfeen Malik attended a religious school while living in Pakistan, where she studied pharmacy in the central city of Multan. The officials identified the school yesterday as the Al-Huda International Seminary, a women-only madrassa with a chain across Pakistan and branches in the U.S. and Canada. Al-Huda’s founder, Farhat Hashmi, now living in Canada, has been criticized for promoting a conservative strain of Islam. The school has no known links to extremists. Al-Huda’s spokeswoman Farrukh Chaudhry says she cannot confirm whether Malik studied there until she goes through the records because “we have thousands of students.” The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations. Malik and her American-born husband were killed after carrying out Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

Categories Asia-Pacific