'IS' suspects arrested in Malaysia

The nine suspected "Islamic State" (IS) militants were arrested during a two-week sweep from July 20 to August 9, a senior Malaysian police official said on Saturday.

Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that they were detained at various locations across the country: in the capital, Kuala Lumpur; the southern state of Johor; the state of Sabah on Borneo island and the northeastern state of Kelantan.

He said those arrested included two further people suspected of being behind a grenade attack at a nightspot on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur in June, in which eight people were injured.

Two other suspects have already been charged in connection with the attack in Petaling Jaya, which has been claimed by IS. If the claim was genuine, it would have been the first attack by the extremist group on Malaysian soil.

High alert

The concentrated police search comes as Malaysian authorities carry out a crackdown on extremism in the predominantly Muslim country, with police saying last week that 230 people, including 200 Malaysians, had been arrested since 2013 on suspicion of having links to IS.

Two weeks ago, 68 Malaysians suspected of having gone to Syria and Iraq to support IS militants had their passports canceled.

Malaysia has been on particularly high alert since an armed attack by IS-linked extremists in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January.

tj/rc (Reuters, dpa)