4 suspected IS-linked militants arrested in Malaysia: police

Malaysian authorities have arrested four suspected Islamic State militants, including one who was planning a suicide atttack in the country, as the Muslim-majority nation remained under a high alert after the recent terror attacks in Jakarta, the police chief said today.
A 28-year-old man was arrested in a metro station in central Kuala Lumpur yesterday by Counter Terrorism Division personnel with a knife and documents related to the ISIS, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement.
During initial interrogation of the suspect, he confessed to planning the lone wolf attack after receiving instructions from IS members in Syria, Khalid said.

Three Malaysians, including a married couple, were arrested by Turkish authorities as they were trying to sneak into Syria on November 15 last year, while the fourth person was arrested at the Setiawangsa LRT station.
"The three suspects arrested in Gaziantep, Turkey were sent back to Malaysia last Monday. The suspected IS lone wolf arrested by police yesterday was planning attacks on several popular entertainment outlets in the city.
Sources told the Star that the man,who was a former insurance agent, was carrying a knife and that police also seized several IS related documents from him.

"The man has admitted that he was responsible for hanging IS flags at several locations in Terengganu, Perak, Selangor and Johor states.

"The flags were put up as a warning to the Government to halt operations to arrest IS elements found in the country," Khalid said in a press statement today.
He said that the three Malaysians aged between 23 and 28, also suspected to have joined the IS group had earlier been detained in Gaziantep, Turkey on November 15 by the Turkish authorities.
Khalid said the trio, which includes a husband and a wife were detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) upon their arrival on Monday after their extradition process had been completed.
"All of them were recruited by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi @ Abu Hamzah, a Malaysian-national who joined the IS group in Syria and is responsible for 'smuggling in' the trio to Syria," he added.

All four suspects were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).
Malaysia was put on a high alert following a series of coordinated terror attacks on Jakarta by an IS-linked terror group. The Thursday attacks involved suicide bombers as well as gunmen in which seven persons including five terrorists were killed.