Kuala Lumpur, April 6 (IANS) Seventeen suspects, who were in the midst of planning terror activities in Malaysia, have been detained, police said on Monday.
Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar tweeted that the suspects, including two people who had recently returned from Syria, were detained by Counter Terrorism personnel, the Malaysian Star reported.
“As I mentioned, I will never allow Malaysia to be a transit point or hideout for any terror groups,” Bakar said.
“Congrats to the Counter Terrorism division for the excellent work,” he added.
In January, police said that they had arrested a total of 120 people with suspected Islamic State (IS) terror group links, or who were detained as they sought to travel to Syria or Iraq.
Police also said that 67 Malaysians were known at the time to have visited abroad to join IS, and that five had died fighting.