(Kuala Lumpur) Police in Malaysia have reported that between
January and February this year they arrested 10 suspected Islamic terrorists who
were part of ISIS communication pipeline set up to channel ISIS fighters to the Philippines.
The first series of arrests were made on Jan 25 and Jan 26 against five men — two Malaysians and three Philippine nationals aged between 33 and 50 — in Sandakan, Sabah. The group includes a 27-year-old man from the Philippines who is believed to be a senior leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf, a Philippine terrorist group known for kidnapping and beheading foreign tourists. The next series of arrests was against four individuals — two male Filipinos and a Malaysia woman aged between 27 and 32 — in Penampang, Sabah on Feb 4.
Follow-up operations led to the arrest of a 48-year-old
Filipino man, who has Malaysian permanent-resident status, on Feb 6 in
Sandakan.
Based on the arrests in Sabah, the Police reported it was
learned that the Abu Sayyaf group was attempting to form a terror cell in Sabah
so that they could successfully arrange for the safe passage of IS militants in
the region to the southern Philippines.
