Malaysian counter-terrorism officials arrested six suspects, including two women, between Mar 24 and Apr 25, 2017 for their alleged involvement in activities linked to the Islamic State militant group, authorities said on Wednesday.
Inspector-General of police Khalid Abu Bakar said one male suspect was arrested on Apr 25 in Penang. ." He is aged 41, unemployed and has been actively promoting Daesh (IS) through his 15 Facebook accounts since 2014. He also planned to launch an attack on a Shia mosque in Penang," Khalid told Channel NewsAsia.
He added that two other men, aged 26 and 41, were arrested in Kelantan for smuggling arms from southern Thailand into Malaysia. According to reports, all the six suspects are Malaysian citizens.
Muhammad Muzaffa Arieff bin Junaidi, another suspect from the same cell, managed to escape the arrest and fled to southern Thailand. The 27-year-old was reportedly armed with three guns - a pistol and two M4 carbine assault rifles.
The police also arrested a 26-year female student at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Apr 4 for attempting to enter Syria, via Turkey, to join IS. "The suspect, who is taking a course in medical laboratory science at a private college in Klang Valley, went to Turkey on Aug 29, 2016 with the aim of joining IS in Syria," said Khalid.
He added: "On Feb 5, the suspect was held by Turkish authorities while she was waiting for instructions from Muhammad Wandy Mohamed Jedi, a Malaysian IS militant, to slip into Syria."
Meanwhile, another 41-year-old unemployed man, who had previously been involved with IS, was arrested in Melacca while a 32-year-old female assistant mechanic in a factory in Johor. The authorities said both of them were arrested for promoting IS through Google+.
