Malaysia’s police yesterday said that it had arrested five people, including a European employed as a teacher, on suspicion of links with militant groups like the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda.
Malaysia is on heightened alert after reports on Friday that 10 Syrians linked to IS entered neighboring Thailand in October to attack Russian interests.
Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that four of those arrested were foreign nationals and one was a Malaysian. The arrests were made between Nov. 17 and Tuesday.
Among them was a 44-year-old European who was employed as a temporary teacher in the state of Penang, and had links with al-Qaeda and allegedly participated in militant activities in Afghanistan and Bosnia, the police said.
Three other suspects — a 31-year-old Indonesian man, a Malaysian and a Bangladeshi — were part of a cell linked to the IS group and were tasked with recruiting volunteers to take part in militant activities overseas.
The leader of the cell was the Indonesian who is said to have vowed allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi through Facebook last year.
“He, along with the Malaysian national, is suspected of acting as facilitator to organize individuals from Malaysia and some Southeast Asian countries to join the Islamic State in Syria,” Khalid said.
Southeast Asia faces the threat of IS-inspired attacks designed to “glamorize terrorism,” a Malaysian minister said last month, voicing fears of battle-hardened fighters returning from Syria to launch Paris-style attacks.
In September, Malaysian police thwarted a plot to detonate bombs in Kuala Lumpur’s vibrant tourist area of Bukit Bintang.
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