THE Malaysian police said on Monday they have arrested seven suspects, including five Filipinos and one Malaysian immigration officer, in connection with the Islamic State (IS).
The first Filipino suspect, who has permanent residence in Malaysia, was found to have provided funds for Malaysian fugitives “Dr. Mahmud Ahmad” and Mohamad Joraimee Awang Raimee, who joined the IS in the Southern Philippines as recruiters for the terror group, said Khalid Abu Bakar, inspector general of the police in a statement.
Another two are believed to have assisted the transit of three Indonesian IS militants to the Southern Philippines passing through Sabah, Khalid said.
The police believed the arrested Malaysian immigration officer helped arrange the travel for several terror suspects to Mindanao in the Philippines without valid documents.
The suspects were arrested in a series of counter-terrorism operations between Wednesday and Sunday in Sabah and Selangor, Khalid added.
It is not the first time the police uncovered links between Sabah and Mindanao, where the Philippine government exert loose control over the Abu Sayyaf, a jihadist bandit group.
The Malaysian police busted a four-member terror cell in Sabah in January, in which the police found the cell helped new recruits of IS-linked militants from Malaysia, Indonesia and ethnic Rohingya community in Bangladesh to transit via Sabah to Marawi City in Mindanao.