13 new arrests in Shah Alam over Islamic State links
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police were constantly on the lookout for militant activities. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 15, 2014.Police arrested 13 men at a restaurant in Shah Alam yesterday for alleged links with Islamic State (Isis) militants, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
The Star reported that Khalid gave a brief press conference today to reveal the latest arrests, which brings to 36 the total number of people arrested so far this year for alleged militant involvement.
Between January and June this year, police arrested 23 people in various parts of Malaysia for alleged links to the Islamic State.
"Militancy and terrorism have no place in Malaysia. Police are constantly monitoring these kind of activities," Khalid was reported as saying during the conference at Bukit Aman this morning. The atrocities committed by Islamic State militants in the Middle East has drawn widespread global condemnation and provoked a military response from the United States.
Putrajaya has also come out to condemn the Islamic State, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak saying Malaysia deplored the actions of Isis in Syria and Iraq.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has urged the public to report any social site accounts that spread militancy or terrorism in this country.
MCMC strategic communications senior director, Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman said parents needed to be alert and monitor any changes in their children's behaviour and activities online.
"MCMC always cooperates with the police in cases such as this to help investigations," he said.
Yesterday, it was reported that militant groups in Syria were not only recruiting Malaysian girls but also tried to recruit teenaged students in the name of jihad.
Principal assistant director of the Counter Terrorism Division of the Special Branch at Bukit Aman, SAC Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay had said they conducted their recruitment drive through Facebook and targeted students and teenage girls.
Sheikh Raffie said Facebook was only one of the platforms that was probably used by the groups to recruit members apart from other social media platform.
"However I am made to understand that there are sites or accounts that have been closed by Facebook as they are suspected of trying to bring militant ideology and spread militant activities," he said.
At present 22 Malaysians, including three women, had been identified as having joined the militant groups in Syria. – October 15, 2014.
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