Jan. 23, 2015, — The Strait Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, reported that more than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point on their way to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group.
A Chinese national ISIS militant is seen guarded by an Iraqi soldier (Credit: Iraqi Ministry of Defense).
The Strait Times reported that Malaysian Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed this information on Wednesday, according to Malaysian state news agency Bernama.
From Malaysia, the extremists moved to a third country before entering Syria and Iraq, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid said.
The Strait Times added that Dr Ahmad Zahid told reporters this was disclosed to him by China’s Vice-Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei at their meeting at his office earlier on Wednesday.
He said Kuala Lumpur and Beijing viewed the security threat seriously and were committed to coming up with more comprehensive measures to curb it.
“Although there exists an arrangement between Malaysia and China to combat terrorism through counter-terrorism measures, this problem is serious,” Dr Ahmad Zahid was quoted by Bernama as saying.
“This is because ties exist at the international level between terrorists in China and those in other countries in the Southeast Asian region,” he said.
The Strait Times also pointed out that Dr Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia had received no information on the possibility of these Chinese nationals having ties with Malaysians.
Last week, Shanghai police have detained 10 Turkish nationals for allegedly providing assistance to terror suspects in Xinjiang.
Reports are suggesting 11 others, including 9 alleged terror suspects from Xinjiang, have also been taken into custody.
The 10 Turkish detainees are accused of providing fake Turkish passports.
It’s being reported the group was trying to leave China for destinations including Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan when police swooped in.