Malaysian police announced on 18 July that they had arrested seven suspected Islamic State militants, including a man who threatened to assassinate the Malaysian King, Sultan Muhammad V, and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed.

Malaysian police patrol on Bangkok street (Source: AFP/VNA)

According to police chief Fuzi Harun, four Malaysians and three Indonesians were nabbed during a special operation in the four states of Johor, Terengganu, Selangor, and Perak from 12-17 July .

Prominent among the arrestees is a 34-year-old unemployed Malaysian man, as he is an ISIS supporter and threatened on his Facebook account to assassinate the King, the PM and Religious Affairs Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa because he believed they were not running the country according to Islamic syariah laws.

Malaysia has been on high alert since gunmen linked to the IS launched multiple attacks in Jakarta, neighbouring Indonesia, in January 2016.

The country has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants in recent years, and suffered its first IS attack in June 2016 when a grenade attack at Movida nightclub in Puchong, Selangor, injured eight people.

(Source: VNA)