Police have arrested seven Filipino men, suspected to be members of the Abu Sayyaf group, who worked as security guards in Kuala Lumpur.

Inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, in a statement today, said the suspects, aged between 22 and 38, were picked up by Bukit Aman's Counter Terrorism Division at several locations in the city on Sept 14. 

"The operation was carried out following arrests made on Aug 30, on an Abu Sayyaf cell that had planned to launch attacks during the closing ceremony of the 29th SEA Games in Bukit Jalil, as well as at the Merdeka Day parade the following day.

"All the suspects were employed as security guards by several companies in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur," Fuzi said.

He added that the 22-year-old suspect was an active member of the militant group, who had participated in previous clashes with the Philippines military and kidnappings in the Southern Philippines.

According to Fuzi, all seven suspects had entered the country via Sandakan, Sabah, in September 2015, before making their way to Kuala Lumpur with false documentation.

Fuzi said police would launch continuous operations to flush out terrorist elements in the country, be it to seek shelter, collect funds, launch attacks or make the country a transit point to plan attacks on another country.

He noted that since the beginning of this year, 41 foreigners classified as "terrorist fighters" have been nabbed in the country.