KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — Despite measures put in place to weed out militancy, more Malaysians are suspected to have joined the Islamic State (IS), a local daily reported.

Citing a police source, Utusan Malaysia stated that the number of Muslim Malaysians fighting for the militant movement has gone up from 39 to 50 since October.

The 11 new cases include one individual arrested in Kedah on November 27 and the suicide bomber killed in Syria, 27 year old Ahmad Affendi Abdul Manaf, it said.

“They were part of the tabligh (Muslim preachers) movement before they were selected to perform jihad so the Islamic State,” the source was quoted as saying.

IS is a jihadist militant group that uses brutal tactics such as murder and beheadings in Syria and Iraq, and which states its goal the establishment of an Islamic caliphate purportedly based on Shariah law.

The group is categorised as a terrorist organisation by Malaysia and many other countries.