SINTOK, Sept 27 — Since 2001 and this year, a total of 40 local students of higher learning institutions (IPT) and secondary schools were detained over their involvement in several militant groups.

Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division Principal Assistant Director Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said they comprised 15 linked to IS, 16 (Jemaah Islamiah) and nine (al-Qaeda).

"Of the 15 in IS, three were from public IPT (IPTA), four from private IPT (IPTS) and another three from secondary schools, including religious schools,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a dialogue titled ‘Misguided Faith Threatens the Security of the Country’ at the Universiti Utara Malaysia here today.

As for Jemaah Islamiah, 14 were IPTA students in Pakistan, one IPTS and another was secondary school student.

The nine involved in al-Qaeda, on the other hand, comprised eight IPTA students and a student from Madinah.

Ayob Khan said the police were now in the midst of tracking down five more students involved in the IS militant group, who were now outside the country, such as Syria.

For the record, he said 24 Malaysians were killed in Syria between 2013 and August this year, following all-out operations to combat the IS militant group by the armed forces of that country. —Bernama