A top Malaysian counterterrorism official said police had foiled terrorist plans to bomb targets in Malaysia and set up regional and global Islamic State networks; 19 suspects were arrested. The suspects, who sought to establish an Islamic caliphate comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore, included two housewives as well as professionals, and some had tried to travel to Turkey and Syria for training by the Islamic State. The official said last week some 20 to 30 Malaysians had gone to Syria to join the Islamic State but that the actual number might be “a lot higher.”
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