MALE: Maldives police on Thursday arrested three men over the stabbing of two Chinese nationals and an Australian, and were probing their suspected links with Islamic State, officials said. One of the Chinese nationals was a tourist and the two others worked in the city. A Maldivian radical group affiliated with Islamic State had taken responsibility for the attack in a video posted online, local media reported on Wednesday. Last year, a 35-year-old man identified as a leader for Islamic State in the Maldives by the U.S. authorities was arrested for allegedly leading Islamic State recruitment in the mainly Sunni Muslim nation. The Maldives parliament has given sweeping investigative powers to counter-terrorism agencies, and authorities have stepped up operations against hardline Islamist groups.

Source: New Strait Times February 06, 2020 07:30 UTC