Thirteen individuals suspected to have made plans to join the extremist militant group Islamic State (IS) was arrested last night, said  Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar today.
 
He said that they were all arrested in a restaurant in Shah Alam under the Security Measures (Special Offences) Act 2012 for planning to go to Syria to join the armed struggle.
 
“From our monitoring, we have identified 13 people who we found were getting ready to move to Syria via Turkey.
 
“This latest arrest will bring the total number of those detained in connection with ISIS since 28 April to a total of 36 people,” Khalid said in a press conference at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
 
Khalid ( left ) also told reporters that the police have already informed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to shut down several sites and Facebook accounts which were allegedly seeking to recruit people for the Syrian struggle.
 
Khalid also reminded all Malaysians not to be influenced by the “jihad” call these armed militant groups are making.
 
“If you want to “jihad”, there is no need to go all the way to Syria.
 
“You can also 'jihad” here by helping the police fight crime. That's a form of jihad too,” he said.
 
Meanwhile, in another development, Khalid stressed that the bombing case at the Cherry Blossom nightclub in Bukit Bintang last week has nothing to do with terrorism.
 
He asked that speculations should not be made as the matter is still under investigation.
 
“We have tracked down a witness and the incident at Bukit Bintang had nothing to do with terrorism and militancy.
 
“This was a case of vengeance,” he said.