Malaysia nabs four suspected IS militants

KUALA LUMPUR — Four Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested by Malaysian police this week, said the country’s top cop on Friday (June 16) as the country remained on heightened alert amid the ongoing siege at the Southern Philippine city of Marawi.

Malaysia’s police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects – three Indonesians and a Malaysian – were arrested between Monday and Thursday.

Three of them, comprising two Indonesians and a Malaysian, were preparing to join IS-linked fighters in Marawi City. Another man, an Indonesian, was planning to stage an attack against the police.

Mr Khalid said the trio, aged between 30 and 40 years old and were all odd job workers, were found to be in posession of IS-related documents and newly-bought “Rambo” hunting knives when nabbed.

He said the knives were meant to be used against the authorities in the event they were arrested.

“We believe the men were trying to gain safe passage to Marawi City. We detected their intention and we caught them before they flew off,” Mr Khalid said.

The arrests of the three suspects were caught on video, which has since gone viral on Facebook and WhatsApp. The footage showed a team of policemen with firearms apprehending the men near a mosque in the Sabah town of Sandakan.

Mr Khalid also said the Indonesian man was arrested in Perak. The man was found with an Indonesian passport and IS-related documents.

“We caught the Indonesian for his involvement in Daesh, and he also planned to attack the police,” Mr Khalid added, using the Arabic name for IS.

Governments across the region have been on high alert since hundreds of IS-linked militants overran Marawi City in the southern Philippines on May 23 after government forces attempted to arrest their leader, Isnilon Hapilon.

Dozens of the gunmen are foreign jihadis which included Indonesians, Malaysians, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport.

Philippine Defence Undersecretary Ricardo David has said foreign fighters used “back channels” in the Sulu and Celebes Seas near the borders of the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia to enter the southern island of Mindanao and link up with local terror groups.

Despite ongoing air strikes and raids carried out by the Philippine military, the militants are still in control of Marawi.

The seizure of Marawi by IS-allied fighters, including some from the region, has alarmed South-east Asian nations, which fear the ultra-radical group — on the backfoot in Iraq and Syria — is trying to set up a stronghold in Mindanao that could threaten the region.

Malaysia has been on high alert since gunmen linked to IS launched multiple attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighbouring Indonesia, in January last year, and has arrested hundreds of people over the past few years for suspected links to militant groups.

Since 2013, more than 260 militants have been put behind bars by the Malaysian authorities. AGENCIES