Malaysian police yesterday said they had arrested seven people, including five Filipinos, for suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) group.
Malaysia has been on high alert since armed gunmen linked to the Islamic State group launched multiple attacks in Jakarta in January.
Muslim-majority Malaysia arrested more than 250 people between 2013 and last year over suspected militant activities linked to Islamic State group.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement most of the arrests were made during an operation in Sabah, Borneo, earlier this month.
A Philippine suspect with permanent residency in Malaysia was detained on suspicion of raising funds and channeling them to Mahmud Ahmad and Mohamad Joraimee Awang Raimee, two Malaysians who had joined up with the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines, Khalid said.
One Philippine man was planning to travel to Syria to join up with the Islamic State group there, while another was found to have pledged allegiance to Isnilon Hapilon, the Philippines’ most-wanted man and leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
In June last year, militants who claimed to be fighting for Islamic State group said in a video they had chosen Hapilon to lead their Southeast Asian faction.
Two other Philippine suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested for smuggling three IS militants from Malaysia and Indonesia to the southern Philippines through Sabah, Khalid said.
Police also arrested a Malaysian woman, who worked as an airport immigration official, on suspicion of helping people without valid travel documents, including Malaysian and Indonesian Islamic State group followers, to enter and exit the Philippines through Sabah.
In related news, a Malaysian man was arrested at Kuala Lumpur’s main airport on Sunday after being deported from Turkey, Khalid said.
The suspect traveled to Istanbul in October last year with plans to enter Syria with the help of an Islamic State militant, Khalid said.
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