Malaysians recruited Islamic State jihadis with Facebook, police say

Malaysian police said 14 people arrested this week for suspected links to Islamic State included a government engineer and two others who used Facebook to recruit fighters for the extremist group in Syria.

"Three of them are key players of a cell whose role was to recruit, finance and arrange trips for Malaysians to join terror groups in Syria," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

Those arrested were from 14 to 48 years old and included two women, the statement on Wednesday said.

Khalid was quoted by Malaysian media earlier that day saying the arrests were made on Monday in a Kuala Lumpur suburb.

Police have arrested three dozen people this year for suspected Islamic State-related activities, and say at least 40 Malaysians have left for Syria.