KUALA LUMPUR • Police are concerned that an Indonesian militant in Syria has been encouraging Malaysian sympathisers of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to attack selective targets in the country.

The Counter-Terrorism Division of the Special Branch said militant Bahrum Shah had been ordering attacks on certain Western interests, the government and security forces.

Division head Ayob Khan said yesterday that the police were concerned because Bahrum has a lot of funds. "When you have funds, you can launch attacks on a big scale. If you look at Al-Qaeda previously, the money that came into Malaysia from Afghanistan was used to finance the Bali bombings.

"If money comes in from Syria, in the short term, they will launch a big attack. That is what we are worried about. We have to cut their channels," the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) said.

According to a report by the Jakarta Post, Bahrum is believed to be the commander of Katibah Nusantara, a joint group of Indonesian and Malaysian ISIS fighters formed in late 2014.

DCP Ayob also named Bahrun Naim and Abu Jandal as two more Indonesian militants who were ordering attacks in the region.

The Malaysian police say a bombing at the Movida night club in June was the first successful ISIS attack in the country.

DCP Ayob said 13 plots to launch terror attacks by ISIS in Kuala Lumpur had failed, with seven of them being ordered from Syria.

Since February 2013, the Malaysian police have arrested 239 people for terrorism-related activities.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK