Keep tabs on personnel, RMN commanders told

PETALING JAYA: All Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base commanders are to monitor and investigate personnel who may be linked to the two RMN men who were detained over militant activities.

Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the navy had been placed on a high alert.

“I have given instruction to my commanders to monitor our men seriously, especially those who are close to the two who were apprehended recently,” he said yesterday.

Admiral Abdul Aziz was commenting on the arrest of the 29-year-old in Sandakan on Friday, the second RMN personnel to be arrested for terrorism-related activities.

Apparently, he helped smuggle militants back into Malaysia after their weapons training in the southern Philippines.

Admiral Abdul Aziz said the suspect held the rank of able seaman.

“That’s the equivalent of a lance corporal in the army,” he said.

“We are very concerned as it is the second RMN personnel arrested for suspected involvement in a militant group,” he added.

On June 13, a navy man with the rank of leading hand or the equivalent of a corporal in the army was among three men arrested in Sabah.

They were part of a militant group planning to undertake suicide bombings and attack missions in Syria and Iraq.

Since April 28, 19 people have been arrested in various states by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division.

The suspects are linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).