Seven Islamic State suspects held

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said on Saturday they had arrested seven alleged Islamic State militants plotting violence, one of whom was in contact with an extremist blamed for the deadly Jakarta attack. Thirty rounds of ammunition was also seized along with books and videos about jihad and an IS flag during a series of raids around the country since Friday, police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement. The statement did not mention the confiscation of any weapons or explosives but said the group was planning attacks around Malaysia. One of those arrested had been in communication with Indonesian extremist Bahrun Naim, the statement said. Naim is believed to be the founding member of a Southeast Asian offshoot of the Islamic State group. Indonesian police say Naim orchestrated — from IS-held territory in Syria — the gun and bomb assault in Jakarta on January 14 that killed eight people including the four attackers. Two days after the Jakarta attack, Malaysian police said they arrested a man who was planning a suicide bombing in Malaysia in the Islamic State’s name.