Malaysia arrests 8 for suspected IS links

Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Saifuddin Nasution announced on Monday that the Royal Malaysian Police have arrested eight individuals on suspicion of ties to the so-called Islamic State (IS). Nasution stated in a press conference that the suspects, including two women, were apprehended in simultaneous operations conducted by the police intelligence department in several areas across the states of Johor, Kelantan, Perak, and Selangor. He added that the suspects come from various economic backgrounds, including a housewife, a construction worker, and a former lecturer, noting that the eight suspects, aged between 25 and 70. Nasution further mentioned that initial investigations by the Malaysian police revealed the suspects' involvement in threats against Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim bin Iskander of Johor, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and several senior police officers. He added that initial investigations also showed that they turned to extremism after believing that the county's leadership did not f ollow a specific model of leadership, explaining that this belief led them to plan threats against prominent political figures. On May 17 last year, a man, 21, carried out an armed attack on a police station in Johor, killing two police officers before getting shot by security forces. Initially, the attacker was suspected to be affiliated with the extremist Islamic group in Indonesia, but Malaysian authorities later retracted this association. Subsequently, Malaysian authorities charged the attacker's father, mother, and three siblings with incitement of terrorism through the dissemination of IS ideology. Source: Kuwait News Agency