By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian police have arrested a further 13 individuals on suspicion of links to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, police said Wednesday.
The detentions bring the total number of ISIL-related arrests in Malaysia since April to 36.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar gave no further details on the identity of the suspects or say how they were allegedly linked to the militants.
Bakar said the suspects were detained at several locations Tuesday in Shah Alam, 25 kilometers west of Kuala Lumpur, by the federal police's Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division.
He added: "We are constantly monitoring these kinds of activities. Militancy and terrorism have no place in this country."
In August, ISIL-supporting "terrorists" in Malaysia were said to have planned a bombing campaign in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, targeting bars, discos and a brewery, according The Straits Times, citing official police sources in those countries.
Militants in Malaysia are believed to have strong ties to extremists in neighboring countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A senior leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group dedicated to established an Islamic state, or caliphate, in Southeast Asia, is thought to be operating in Mindanao, a southern Philippine island where al-Qaeda-affiliated militants operate.
It is unclear whether Zulkifli bin Abdul Hir, known as Marwan, survived an airstrike two years ago but in August local media reported that a captured Abu Sayyaf leader had told police Marwan was still alive.
Last month the AsiaOne news website reported that Marwan was passing his bomb-making kills on to Abu Sayyaf insurgents.
www.aa.com.tr/en
