Malaysian terror swoop nets 350 suspects

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police on Sunday (Aug 13) raided a commercial centre in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan and detained 350 illegal immigrants, some of whom are believed to be affiliated to the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

In the three-hour operation led by the Federal Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division (SBCT-D), over 740 shops in the area were checked by some 320 officers from various enforcement agencies, including the K9 unit and the bomb disposal squad.

SBCT-D principal assistant director Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said Sunday’s operation was a follow-up to the one undertaken last week at Masjid India in Kuala Lumpur.

“Based on the intelligence from the operation at Masjid India, we suspected that foreigners who were involved with the ISKP (Islamic State of Khorasan Province) had moved from Masjid India to Nilai to assimilate themselves with other foreigners,” said Mr Ayob.

The ISKP is an IS branch that operates in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Mr Ayob said that chances that some of these 350 detainees being IS members were high. The individuals picked up in the joint operation comprised individuals from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Mr Ayob added that all the suspects were taken to the Sepang district police headquarters for screening based on databases obtained from the Interpol and the Special Branch, among others.

Authorities also seized four swords and a sledgehammer from a carpet shop in the area during the raid.

Sunday’s operation was the third of its kind conducted by Malaysian authorities in the past week and they were carried out in preparation for the 29th South-East Asian Games to be held later this month.

Last Wednesday (Aug 9), almost 300 people were detained in Cyberjaya, near Kuala Lumpur International Airport. And last Sunday (Aug 6), authorities swooped down on Masjid India and arrested 400 foreigners.

The New Straits Times reported in May that Malaysia had been made the unwitting receiver of foreign fighters who were prevented from entering Syria to fight alongside IS.

Intelligence feedback received suggested that there were no less than 30 individuals, including those flagged as “high risk”, who were stopped in their tracks for their “potential risk to national security”.

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

To date, 34 Malaysians have been killed in Iraq and Syria since 2013.

Currently, there are more than 50 Malaysian IS fighters left in Syria, and none of them have shown any sign of wanting to return to the country. AGENCIES