[ABS-CBN] Malaysian police said on Monday they had arrested four people, among them three foreigners, with links to a Daesh cell based in the southern Philippines.Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the cell, operating out of Mindanao, was led by a former university lecturer, Mahmud Ahmad, who is known to be a Malaysian Daesh member. The cell had planned to use the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah as a transit point for regional recruits looking to join Daesh in the Philippines.
Khalid said one of the arrested suspects, a Filipino, had been instructed to recruit new followers from Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, and arrange for their travel to Mindanao. The suspect was arrested in Sabah along with a Malaysian woman who was planning to marry and travel with him to the Philippines.
Police also arrested two Bangladeshi men in Kuala Lumpur, who had allegedly been recruited by the Philippine suspect. Khalid said, "The two are suspected of having links with Daesh groups in Bangladesh."
Khalid said Mahmud's cell had joined up with the Abu Sayyaf and pledged its allegiance to the group's leader and the nation's most-wanted man, Isnilon Hapilon.
Last June, militants who claimed to be Daesh fighters said in a video they had chosen Isnilon to lead the group's Southeast Asian faction. The video, posted on social media, marked Daesh's acceptance of allegiance by Southeast Asian supporters and called for them to launch attacks in the region.
Malaysia has arrested more than 250 people between 2013 and 2016 over militant activities linked to Daesh.