KUALA LUMPUR: Militants, en route to the Southern Philippines are believed to be planning to use Tawau as their transit point, Bukit Aman revealed today following the arrest of a Filipino man, two Bangladeshi men and a local woman in Sabah and KL recently.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police managed to unravel the plan before it was implemented.
"Tawau is strategically located between the three countries (Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines) and is rife with economic activities.
"The militants were planning to exploit this situation and blend in with the locals to mask their activities.
"Police, via the counter-terrorism division have been alerted to this plan and will continue to monitor their movement in Tawau," he said.
Khalid said the Malaysian police are also working with their counterpart in the Philippines to track down former Universiti Malaysia lecturer Dr Mahmud Ahmad, the head of an Islamic State (IS) cell behind the plan.
He was reported to be the main recruiter for IS in Indonesia and Malaysia to join other members based in the Philippines.
"The security agencies are monitoring his movement. Currently, we can't take action on him because he is hiding somewhere in the Southern Philippines.
"We will wait for the right time to take him." he said.