Dangerous Liaisons: 70 Malaysians Suspected of Having Ties to ISIL

Police across Malaysia reportedly have tightened security after it was discovered that 70 people, including Malaysian Armed Forces servicemen, have ties with ISIL.

BALI (Sputnik) – Police across Malaysia and in the capital Kuala Lumpur in particular have tightened security after it was discovered that 70 people, including Malaysian Armed Forces servicemen, have ties with the Islamic State (ISIL) terrorist group, The Star newspaper reports.

"I continue to remind my officers to be on alert at all times," Malacca Deputy Police Chief Senior Asst. Comm. Shahrizan Che Mat Din said, as quoted by the Malaysian newspaper on Tuesday.

According to The Star, security has been particularly tightened at the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.

Last week, 17 people, including two Malaysian Armed Forces personnel were detained by Malaysian security forces on suspicion that they had ties with terrorist groups, particularly ISIL.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a radical Sunni group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), currently controls vast areas in Iraq and Syria.

ISIL affiliates also operate in North Africa, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

According to the US National Counterterrorism Center, the ISIL group has attracted at least 20,000 foreign fighters to join the jihadist cause in the last three years.

The United States created an international coalition to fight the ISIL in September, 2014. Coalition forces have since been carrying out airstrikes against the extremists in Iraq and Syria.