Malaysia: 17 arrested on suspicion of plotting terror attacks in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, April 6: Seventeen people, including two who returned from Syria recently, were arrested in the capital of Malaysia on Sunday on suspicion of plotting terror attacks , official sources said. [US woman accused of trying to join, martyr self for IS group]

National police chief Abu Bakar confirmed the news on social networking site Twitter. No other details about the arrested could, however, be received, said an AFP report.

Malaysian police authorities said 120 people were arrested in January for having suspected links with the Islamic State and detained many who sought to travel to Syria and Iraq where the IS have exerted influence.

Authorities in Malaysia, which follows moderate Islam, have expressed concern over the theat of Muslim militancy in the wake of the IS's blood-spilling jihad in Syria and Iraq.

Last week, the government introduced a new anti-terror legislation to counter the IS's potential threat. The government, however, came under heavy cricticism from the rights groups for the law that allows the authorities to detain terror suspects for potentially unlimited periods without trial, the AFP report said.

Oneindia News