By P. Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Plans to bomb Malaysian pubs, discos and a brewery by a group inspired by the Islamic State (IS) have been thwarted by the arrest of 19 suspected homegrown "terrorists" since last April, according to Malaysian police.
The force’s assistant director-general, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, told the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the Malaysian nationals were entrusted by "gurus" to create "an extremist border" among the ten nations of southeast Asia, and had plans to travel to Syria and seek additional training from the Islamic State - a militant group formerly known as ISIL that has seized parts of Syria and Iraq.
He spoke of his surprise at the backgrounds of some of those arrested.
“We were very surprised to look at some of the arrested suspects. They look very decent and no sign of any extremism," he said.
"The suspects included professionals from good working background and housewives."
He told the AA that their plan was "to bomb places which promote maksiat [the Malay word for sin] in the country," but added that they were still at a "preliminary" stage and no explosives had been discovered.
“The arrests took place in many locations. Some of them at airports,” he said.
Seven of the suspected militants have already appeared at a preliminary court on charges ranging from promoting "terrorism" to possession of homemade rifles.
He said a date for their hearing is still to be made public.
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