All seven foreign suspects were deported on March 5 and blacklisted for life, the IGP announced today. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — The police picked up nine suspects with links to an African-based terror group behind alleged plans to launch large-scale attacks in several countries in a raid held last month.

Two of the suspects, an Egyptian and a Tunisian national, are believed to be fighters with the Ansar Al-Shariah Al-Tunisia, which is a part of the al-Qaeda terror network operating in North Africa.

The two, aged 21 and 22, came to Malaysia as a transit point with the help of seven others, five of them Egyptian nationals and two Malaysians, who helped provide lodgings and pay for other expenses that include plane tickets into the country.

The suspects were picked up between February 2 and 9.

“Investigation by the Special Branch Counter-Terrorism unit found that foreign terrorist fighters are trying to make Malaysia a ‘safe haven’, a transit point and a logistics hub by sneaking into the country,” police chief Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.

Foreign terror suspects typically use fake travel papers or marry locals to pass through immigration checks undetected, the police said.

The growing number of foreign nationals detained over terror links over the past few years has caused concern that Malaysia could become a haven for former terror group fighters fleeing the Middle East.

It also raised questions about the country’s immigration policy, with critics asking if it had the capacity to deal with the problem after the authorities warned about a possible influx of former Islamic State fighters into the country following the group’s defeat in Syria.

Fuzi said the latest arrests should be viewed seriously.

“The presence of foreign fighters could turn Malaysia into the launch pad for terror attacks in the country or the region,” he said.

All seven foreign suspects were deported on March 5 and blacklisted for life.