Kuala Lumpur, July 24 (IANS): Fourteen Malaysian nationals with suspected link with the Islamic State (IS) were arrested in operations in which explosives for potential attack were also found, police said on Saturday.

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects, detained in anti-terrorism operations in five states, comprised 13 men and a woman, all of whom are local residents aged between 20 and 49.

Among them, 12 are believed to belong to a cell whose members were arrested in earlier operations and had received order from a Malaysian IS member in Syria to launch attack in the country, Xinhua news agency quoted Khalid as saying.

One of the suspects confessed to having shared methods of making Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) with other members.

A 49-year-old suspect was actively recruiting new members for IS terrorist group and responsible for sending members to Syria to join the group, while a female suspect had planned to sneak into southern Philippines to join IS offshoot there, Khalid added.

During the operations, police found an IED which was believed to be used in potential attack against senior police officials.