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Malaysia police arrest seven Daesh-linked suspects

Sunday, 24 January 2016 2:00 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 28 January 2016 8:26 AM ]

Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar (C) speaks during a press conference. (AFP file photo)

At least seven people suspected of having ties to the Takfiri Daesh terrorists have been arrested in Malaysia on suspicion of planning terror attacks across the Southeast Asian country.

Malaysian national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement on Sunday that the militants were taken into custody during a series of raids in different parts of the country over the past three days.

"All the suspects are members of the same (terror) cell, which is responsible for planning to launch terror attacks in strategic locations across Malaysia," the police chief added.

Sources say security forces discovered Daesh flags and seized a large amount of weapons from the detainees.

The police chief also pointed out that one of the detained suspects received orders from Bahrom Naim, an Indonesia-based Daesh militant commander in Syria, who was instrumental in the recent deadly attacks in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Malaysian law enforcement agencies have raised the security alert level following the January 14 terror attacks in neighboring Indonesia.

The attackers detonated explosives and opened fire on people in a Jakarta district packed with malls, embassies and UN offices and waged a gun-battle with police. The assault left five attackers, a Canadian and an Indonesian man dead and 20 others injured

According to Jakarta Police Chief Tito Karnavian, the assailants had links to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and were part of a group led by Naim.

Indonesian commandos take cover behind a vehicle near a dead body after a series of explosions hit central Jakarta on January 14, 2016. (AFP photo)

The Daesh terrorist group is wreaking havoc in several countries, mainly Iraq and Syria.

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur say dozens of Malaysian nationals have traveled to Syria in recent years, where they have joined the ranks of Takfiri Daesh militants.

Over the past year, Malaysian police have detained numerous people on suspicion of being Daesh supporters.

Senior officials in Jakarta also believe that roughly 500 Indonesians have traveled to the Middle East region to join the Takfiri Daesh terrorists and other militant groups. Nearly 100 are believed to have returned to Indonesia in recent months.

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