KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police said Thursday that three suspected terrorists were arrested, including two Malaysians who had been trained in manufacturing explosives and car bombs.
The trio were part of a "wolf pack," who were linked to Islamic State (IS), and had been detained by police after the recent arrest of several other members, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said in a statement.
Two suspects, both aged 27, had been picked up on Tuesday after their families had persuaded them to turn themselves over to the police after it was made known that they were being pursued by police for their involvement with the group.
The two had undergone training in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2018 by the Jemaah Ansharut Daulah Indonesia terror group and had been trained to manufacture powerful explosive and also car bombs, said the statement.
"The suspects had scouted churches in Yogyakarta as targets to launch attacks. Besides that, one of them had planned to launch attacks against places of worship in Malaysia using suicide bombers," it added.
The third suspect was a 34-year old Indonesian national who previously served 5-years in an Indonesian jail and had been exposed to the ideology of IS while in prison.
Malaysian police on Monday announced the arrest of four suspects who were planning to attack places of worship and assassinate high-profile individuals in Malaysia.
