[Channel NewsAsia] Eight suspected militants, including those with alleged links to Abu Sayyaf and Islamic State, have been arrested in anti-terror raids, Malaysian police said on Saturday. The arrests were made in the states of Sabah, Selangor and Perak, between September 27 and October 6. In the first series of arrests in Sabah, two Malaysians, two Filipinos and a Filipino with Malaysian permanent residency are accused of helping Abu Sayyaf rebels infiltrate Malaysia through Sabah. The raid is a follow-up to the arrests of Abu Sayyaf suporters on September 14, when seven Filipinos were arrested, according to Inspector-General of Police Mohamed Fuzi Harun.
In a separate raid on October 1, an Albanian man was arrested in Selangor for allegedly communicating with IS militants overseas. The 35-year-old is a guest lecturer at a local public university.
As for the remaining two suspects, they were previously arrested for terror links in 2013. One of them had allegedly tried to recruit inmates from Tapah prison in Perak for an unnamed terror group. A former Internal Security Act detainee, he had also planned to launch attacks at places of worship belonging to Muslims, Christians and Hindus. The suspect also withheld information about a Tandzim Al-Qaeda Malaysia (TAQM) militant, who is on the run.
The last suspect is a 37-year-old who is believed to have recruited two Malaysians to join TAQM.