Bukit Aman's special branch counter-terrorism section have arrested seven individuals, some of whom were believed to have links to Islamic State (IS) militants and were involved in planning terror attacks in the country.

This followed operations across Selangor, Malacca, Johor and Sabah between Nov 3 to Dec 16.

"The suspects were arrested under suspicion of committing offences under Chapter VIA of the Penal Code for offences related to terrorism and will be investigated under Special Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012," said police chief Khalid Abu Bakar in statement.

Of the seven arrested, three are Malaysians.

One is a 28-year-old self-employed man who was arrested in Malacca on Nov 26, and is believed to be a local member of the Islamic State terror group and has been trained in bomb-making.

He was believed to have been taking orders directly from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a senior member of an IS terror cell in Syria and has been tasked with targeting entertainment outlets in the state.

The second Malaysian suspect is a 24-year-old lorry driver who has allegedly threatened to attack entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur on his Facebook page.

The third is a furniture factory worker. The 34-year-old was believed to be a member of the Sabah IS terror cell.

Foreign suspects deported

As for the foreign suspects, three were students at a university in Shah Alam in their 20s and 30s, two of whom were accused of trying to obtain security information about an international school.

The other was previously arrested in his home country for alleged links to IS militants.

They were all deported between Nov 22 to Nov 23.

The fourth foreign suspect is a 26-year-old factory worker from Johor who was suspected of having links to the IS. He was also suspected of trying to smuggle arms in to Poso, Indonesia and infiltrating into Myanmar to launch attacks.

The arrests came as police announced that they have foiled more than a dozen attempted terror attacks on Malaysian soil, as the number of IS terror activities abroad continue to escalate.

IS have been reported to be targeting Malaysia and its officials for attacks, as police continue to uncover more alleged local IS terror cells as well as local recruitment and training infrastructure.