This is contrary to a claim by international news agency Nikkei Asia that the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has prompted Malaysia and other nations in the region to go on high alert for potential terror attacks.

Responding to an enquiry from FMT on the report by Nikkei on Aug 31, Normah said: “No, as far as our monitoring is concerned, the threat environment in Malaysia is under control. I did not issue any statement to Nikkei and they have not contacted me.

“While we are always on guard for any eventuality, there is no necessity to issue any alert for now.”

The Nikkei report, which did not name any source, claimed that Malaysian authorities are on guard against the risk posed by citizens who travelled to Afghanistan and may return home to conduct terror attacks.

Besides Malaysia, the report claimed law enforcement agencies in other Southeast Asian nations are on high alert against terrorist groups potentially emboldened by the Taliban takeover and a deadly Islamic State attack at the Kabul airport.

When asked if the Taliban had verified the claim that two Malaysians were among six militants from ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) who were detained last week, Normah said they have not yet received any news from them.

“We need to wait for the Taliban to issue another statement to confirm whether they are Malaysians or not.”

It was reported that the two Malaysian militants who are believed to have fought alongside the Afghan affiliate of ISIS known as Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), have been detained by Taliban authorities.