Malaysia police arrest four foreigners over terror links

Malaysian police arrested four individuals affiliated to several militant groups.

The suspects, all foreigners aged between 24 and 54, were arrested by police in operations between the June and early July, Abdul Hamid said in a statement.

Two of the suspects are members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an ethnic Rohingya terrorist organization based in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

One of the men arrested had also issued a death threat against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a video uploaded on social media, Abdul Hamid said.

"The suspect had been arrested for uploading one video threatening to kill the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on social media. The suspect had been arrested three times prior for entering Malaysia illegally, using fake documents and involvement in human trafficking," he said.

The second ARSA member was picked up for lending support to the organization and had been working as a religious teacher in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah.

Two Rohingya people, including one ARSA member were arrested by police in May for planning attacks on places of worship and entertainment outlets, having stockpiled bombs and firearms.

The remaining suspects included a Filipino member of the Abu Sayyaf militant group who had been involved in kidnapping for ransom and one Indian national who had provided funds to the Babbar Khalsa International, a militant group based in India's Punjab state.

Malaysia has been on high alert since gunmen allied with Islamic State carried out a series of attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighbouring Indonesia, in January 2016.

A grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June 2016 wounded eight people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such strike on Malaysian soil.