Five Filipinos were nabbed by Malaysian cops over suspected links to the IS.
MALAYSIAN COPS – Five out of seven people who were arrested by Malaysian police authorities over suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group are Filipinos.
Based on a recent news report in Inquirer, from Wednesday up to Sunday, an operation has been conducted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and in an island in Borneo, Sabah, which led to the arrest of the individuals according to Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar in a statement.
According to the inspector, it was on Wednesday when the first arrest happened. The authorities nabbed two Filipinos in Kota Kinabalu – one is 27-year-old with permanent residency status and the other is an 18-year-old one.
Based on the news report, the militants who claimed to be battling for the Islamic State, expressed in a video last June, that Isnilon Hapilon is the one that they have chosen to lead their faction on the Southeast part of Asia.
Khalid described Hapilon as “the Philippines’ most-wanted man” and the Abu Sayyaf bandit group chief based on the report.
The inspector expressed that one Pinoy has plans of going to Syria to fuse with militants in the said place while another was a militant who has vowed loyalty to the leader of the IS Southeast Asian faction.
Moreover, based on the report, the other arrested individuals who are suspected to have links to the IS are the following: a 53-year-old ferry ticket seller; a 31-year-old female immigration official; a laborer; a 36-year-old Pinoy; and a 36-year-old Malaysian man.
The laborer and the 53-year-old ferry ticket seller have permanent residency status. According to Khalid, they are “believed to have assisted in the transit of three Indonesian IS militants to southern Philippines through Sabah.”
Based on the report, the authorities have arrested the Malaysian immigration officer on suspicion that she has aided the travelers, including the followers of the IS militant group, who have no valid documents for travel to go in and out of the Philippines via Sabah.
According to the report, the 36-year-old Pinoy, with plans to fuse with the members of the IS militant group in Syria, was detained in Sandakan while it was on KLIA when the 36-year-old Malaysian man was arrested by the authorities based on Khalid’s statement.
In a text message to the source, the spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs said that they are “verifying the report” with their embassy in Kuala Lumpur.