KUALA LUMPUR: The nation's security forces are on alert at all times to curb elements of terrorism and extremism.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said security forces were capable of dealing with terror elements.
"I'm saying that while elements such as the Islamic State (IS) are there, the fact cannot be ignored that the police managed to identify and arrest them.
"This shows that the authorities, namely the police, are ready at all times," he told reporters after launching the National Anti Drug Science Symposium.
Also present were Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain and National Anti Drugs Agency (Nada) deputy director-general (operations) Khairul Anwar Bachok.
On Tuesday, Saifuddin had said that police were usually top on the list of targets of militants.
He also said such terror groups' ideology was that if a government was not based on a caliphate, then it needed to be opposed.
The previous day, he had announced that police had arrested six men and two women over the weekend, all of whom had ties to the IS terror group.
He had said Investigations revealed that there were threats of attacks against His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and other dignitaries, including the top brass of the police force.