Authorities foil bids to spread IS ideology with arrests - minister

Authorities’ intelligence operations and arrests have thwarted attempts to spread the Islamic State (IS) ideology, said Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Investigations found that this group identified dignitaries and police as the main target of potential attacks because the former's ideology and beliefs were not aligned with the government's, he said.

“Their priority targets are the police force as part of efforts to overthrow a government.

"But in reality, we managed to detect and thwart this movement (ideology).

“In the process of intelligence gathering and preliminary investigations, we established that their motive was to target several prominent individuals and senior police officers,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Saifuddin (above) was speaking after closing the 40th General Meeting of the Association of Retired Senior Police Officers at the Police College.

Also present was Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain.

He said their ideological confidence led to them being classified as a threat to public order and national security which must be opposed.

8 arrests

Yesterday, eight individuals were arrested for suspected involvement in extremism and radicalism linked to IS in simultaneous operations in Kelantan, Johor, Penang and Selangor on June 22 and 23.

The suspects, comprising six men and two women aged between 25 and 70, have been detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

Two men have also been charged today in two separate cases related to the support of IS.

- Bernama

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