KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 ― Amid a spate of global terror attacks, local police announced today the arrests of seven men in four states suspected of militant links to the Islamic State (IS).

Of the seven, three are Malaysians while four are foreigners, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement.

Two of the four foreigners were students of the Universiti Antarabangsa Al-Madinah in Shah Alam, Selangor while the last was a 26-year-old factory operator in Johor who is suspected of planning to smuggle weapons to Poso, Indonesia and sneak into Myanmar to carry out attacks.

Khalid also indicated that an international school in the national capital might have been marked for attack by one of the foreigners.

"In September 2016, he was suspected of involvement in an attempt to obtain sensitive information on the security of an international school in Kuala Lumpur,” the top policeman said.

"A third suspect was caught by the Middle Eastern authorities in 2010 on suspicion of being a member of the Al Qaeda terror group,” he added.

Khalid said the three foreigners have been deported back to their home countries on November 22 and 23, without disclosing their origins.

The Malaysian suspects comprise a 35-year-old furniture maker believed to be a Sabah IS cell member, a 24-year-old lorry driver suspected of making bomb threats against entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur on Facebook and a self-employed 24-year-old caught  in Malacca.

Police believe the last man received orders from top Malaysian militant in Syria, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, to launch attacks on entertainment centres in Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

The police also believe he has also been trained to create an improvised explosive device, or in short, a bomb, from Muhammad Nasrullah Abd Latif @ Abu Gomes, another Malaysian who joined the IS in Syria.

Khalid said the seven were arrested by the Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division following raids in Malacca, Selangor, Sabah and Johor between November 3 and December 16.

He said the suspects were arrested under Chapter VIA of the Penal Code, which covers a wide range of offences related to terrorism, from being a member of a terror group to recruiting, providing devices, facilities, training and financing.

He added that they are being investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, which allows for detentions without trial for up to 28 days.

*Editor's note: An earlier version mistakenly stated three of the four foreigners were students instead of two. Malay Mail Online apologises for the error, which has since been amended.