PUTRAJAYA, Sept 13 — Malaysian security agencies, in particular the Royal Malaysian Police, are assessing the situation very carefully after Japan issued an advisory to its citizens including in Malaysia over possible terrorist threat in Southeast Asia.
The Malaysian Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra) in a statement on Monday said it had communicated the advisory issued by the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry over possible threat in the region with the relevant Malaysian authorities.
In respect of the aforementioned advisory, Wisma Putra has also instructed the Malaysian Embassy in Tokyo to be in close communication with the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry.
“Malaysia continues to strengthen cooperation in the security field, including in counter-terrorism efforts, with our partners globally.
“Sharing of intelligence and best practices are important component of this cooperation.,” the statement said.
Earlier Monday, an official from the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur when contacted by Bernama, confirmed that a warning has been issued to Japanese citizens in Malaysia this morning over possible terrorist threat in this region.
According to media reports, Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry had issued an advisory to all of its citizens in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar to stay away from religious facilities and other crowded areas.
“We issued the advisory following an instruction from Tokyo,” the official said without providing further information on the matter.
The official said currently approximately 31,000 Japanese nationals reside in Malaysia.
The warning cited intelligence reports and that there could be possible attacks on houses of worship and places of large gatherings in the region.