KUALA LUMPUR: Police arrested seven Indonesians involved in Islamic State (IS) militant activities, who used Malaysia as a transit point to the Middle East.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement said Special Branch officers from the Federal Counter Terrorism department got wind of the group and launched an operation on Dec 2.
In the operation conducted in Selangor, police picked up three men and four women. There were also five children, aged between five months old and five years old in the group who were planning to travel to Syria.
"Checks showed all those arrested were Indonesians aged between 25 and 35 who were on transit and waiting to join the rest of the IS militants in Syria," he said.
Khalid said one of the suspects arrested is the facilitator who was in charge of recruiting and transporting IS militants from Indonesia to Syria.
"He too has connection with Umar Patek, an influential militant from the Abu Sayyaf militant group and is linked to Al-Qaeda elements in the South East Asia," he said.