Police believe ISIS elements behind grenade attack in Puchong

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police said on Monday (July 4) they believed that there were Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) elements that were behind the grenade blast last week at a nightspot in Puchong, Selangor which wounded eight people.

The police confirmed the blast at the Movida nightclub in Puchong, a town outside Kuala Lumpur, last Tuesday was the first ever successful ISIS attack on Malaysian soil.

"Based on our investigations, we found there is truth to the involvement of IS elements in the incident," the Malaysiakini news website reported Inspector-General of police Khalid Abu Bakar as saying in Kuala Lumpur, referring to the group by its other acronym.

He said the attack was carried out by locals who were directly instructed by ISIS member Muhamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi from Syria, The Star reported.

“Since the attack on June 28 to July 1, we have arrested 15 people including the two men who threw the hand grenade,” he said.

Police appeal to public to provide information of
whereabouts of these two suspects

The attack occurred in the early hours of the morning as patrons were at the Movida nightclub to watch a Euro 2016 match.

Eight people, including a woman from China, were injured in the blast.

The police had previously ruled out terrorism as the motive for the attack, saying a more likely motive appeared to be business rivalry, or a targeted attack on someone in the bar.

But doubts were raised over the motive after a Facebook page linked to the militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Reuters previously reported that counter-terrorism officials were trying to establish the credibility of the claim, which was posted on the Facebook page of Muhammad Wanndy, a known Malaysian ISIS fighter. Muhammad Wanndy had claimed on his Facebook page that the attack had been carried out by two followers of ISIS.