Foreign militants are using mainly Muslim Malaysia as a base to boost their violent struggle and recruit new members, a senior minister says.
Hishammuddin Hussein, in charge of domestic security, confirmed that there were Islamic and non-Islamic militant groups operating in the country.
The militants were using Malaysia to carry out financial transactions, information sharing and recruitment of new members, he said on Tuesday.
"Among those targeted for recruitment are students of local higher learning institutions," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Hishammuddin's remarks come after Musa Hassan, inspector-general of police, on Monday said 10 foreigners had been deported for trying to recruit students to wage holy war overseas.
The militants were detained earlier this year for trying to revive the defunct Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror group by attracting new members from Malaysian universities.
