Six Malaysians were arrested in Johor while a seventh, a Filipino member of the IS-linked Abu Sayyaf group, was detained in Sabah, in multiple operations between Feb 27 and Mar 15, said Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun in a statement.
He said the six detained in Johor were members of an IS cell and included a 37-year-old technician who recruited new militants and was believed to be the mastermind of planned attacks on non-Muslim places of worship in the state’s capital.
A second suspect was a security guard who served as the cell’s advisor and ensured members kept their activities secret.
A third man was tasked with buying firearms from a neighbouring country and identifying targets for attacks, he said.
“All of them planned to escape to a neighbouring country and seek shelter from members of a militant group there after successfully carrying out the plan,” Fuzi said, without naming the country.
Three other members of the same cell were arrested in follow-up operations, including a 25-year-old restaurant worker who had been ordered to kidnap and kill police personnel.
Police also detained a 31-year-old Philippine national in Sabah who was said to be a trusted lieutenant to Abu Sayyaf group leader Furuji Indama and has links to Malaysian militant Mahmud Ahmad, Fuzi said.
The man, wanted by the Philippines for his involvement in a a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate, was also an expert in making improvised explosive devices.
Fuzi said the suspect had planned to carry out several attacks in Sabah and was responsible for making the state a safe haven for terror groups from the Philippines.
Police have arrested hundreds of people over the past few years for suspected links to militant groups.
A grenade attack on a bar in Puchong in June 2016 wounded eight people. IS claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such strike in Malaysia.