KUALA LUMPUR: Seven men, including four foreigners, were arrested between Nov 3 and Dec 16, on suspicions of being involved in terrorism activities.

The suspects aged between 20 and 35, were hauled up from Selangor, Malacca, Johor and Sabah by the Special Branch’s Counter Terrorism division during special operations held nationwide.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement today, all suspects have been arrested under Chapter VIA of the Penal Code for offences relating to terrorism.

Khalid added that investigations would be conducted under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.

The first three suspects, all foreigners, aged between 20 and 30, were rounded up in Selangor on Nov 3.

Of the three, two were students of the Al-Madinah International University in Shah Alam.

One of them was interrogated by the foreign authorities on suspicions of link to the Islamic State (IS).

“He is under suspicion of an attempt to obtain security information of an international school in Kuala Lumpur in September, while the second suspect was believed to have been helping him.

“The third suspect was arrested by the Middle East authorities for allegedly leading the Al-Qaeda back in 2010.

“They have been deported back to their countries on Nov 22 and Nov 23,” he said. The fourth suspect is a 26-year-old foreigner who worked as a factory operator in Johor.

He was arrested on Dec 8 as authorities believed that the man is leading an IS group with plans to smuggle weapons into Poso, Indonesia and launch attacks in Myanmar.

A fifth suspect is a 24-year-old self-employed Malaysian. He was arrested in Malacca on Nov 26.

He was a member of the IS group and is believed to have been ordered by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a top Malaysian IS leader in Syria, to launch attacks at entertainment outlets in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

He is also believed to have been trained by Muhammad Nasrullah Abd Latif@ Abu Gomes, another Malaysian IS member in Syria, to create improvised explosive device.

The sixth suspect is a 24-year-old lorry driver, who was arrested last Friday after he threatened to launch bomb attacks at entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur via his Facebook account.

A seventh suspect was arrested in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 16. The 35-year-old is believed to be the leader of Sabah’s IS group.-nst