Malaysian police nab 7 IS suspects

Malaysian police said on Sunday that seven suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) were arrested in recent days.

Malaysian authorities have raised the security level following the terrorists attack in Jakarta, Indonesia earlier this month.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said via social networking site, police special branch has arrested the seven suspects since Friday in four states of the country.

A police statement said the latest operations were related to the arrest of a man at a light rail transit station in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 15. Police said the man was planning to carry out a suicide attack in the Malaysian capital.

Police said the seven suspects belonged to the same terrorist cell, and responsible for planning attacks on strategic locations in the country.

One of the suspects received orders from a Malaysian IS member in Syria, while another listened to an Indonesian militant in Syria who believed to be the mastermind of the Jakarta attacks.

Heavy police presence was reported at Batu Caves, a major Hindu shrine outside Kuala Lumpur, as thousands of the country's Indian minority and tourists gathered there for the celebration of Thaipusam, a large annual religious festival celebrated by the Hindu community, on Sunday.

Malaysian police have raised the security level following terrorist attacks in downtown Jakarta on Jan. 14 that killed eight people and injured more than a dozen.

Malaysian authorities said 55 Malaysians had been detected to be involved with IS militants in Iraq and Syria and 17 of them had been killed, six of them as suicide bombers.