Malaysia today said it will keep a close watch on Malaysian Islamic State (IS) fighters who are reportedly planning to return home to spread their extremist ideologies.
Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Wan Jaafar said authorities are aware that these militants had the intention to spread their beliefs here.
"They are not coming home to surrender themselves to the authorities, rather to influence people with their ideologies. The police are aware of the matter and will take appropriate action," Wan Junaidi told Parliament today.
Earlier, Wan Junaidi said that 39 Malaysians had been identified over their involvement with IS. However, he refused to divulge further information with regard their backgrounds.
"We are sharing information with our international intelligence counterparts," he said, adding none of them was from Sabah or Sarawak states.
ISIS or IS is an al-Qaeda splinter group and it has seized hundreds of square miles in Iraq and Syria.
Al-Qaeda has distanced itself from the group, chiding it for its lack of teamwork in its aggressive, brutal expansion.
