AKIPRESS.COM - Malaysia’s Independence Day celebrations were overshadowed Wednesday by news that police had disrupted an alleged Islamic State plot to launch terrorist attacks on the eve of the national day, Bernama reports.

Malaysian authorities Wednesday announced that police had arrested three suspected IS supporters in three states who were allegedly plotting a series of strikes for Tuesday that targeted a number of sites, including ones that draw crowds.

The suspects had been directed by Muhammad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi, a Malaysian citizen also known as Abu Hamzah al-Fateh, who is fighting for IS in Syria and is believed to have ordered a grenade attack on a nightclub in Puchong, Malaysia, that injured eight people in late June, officials said.

The trio of suspects was arrested as part of a three-day operation mounted from Aug. 27 through Aug. 29, the nation’s police chief said in a statement released on the day that Malaysians thronged to Dataran Merdaka (Independence Square) in Kuala Lumpur to watch a parade marking the 59th anniversary of Malaysia’s freedom from British colonial rule.

The suspects were picked up by officers from the counter-terrorist branch in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Pahang, Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said.

“They were planning to launch attacks at an entertainment center in Kuala Lumpur, a Hindu temple in Batu Caves, Selangor, and on a police station or any policeman by using hand grenades or firearms on the eve of Merdeka (Independence Day) 2016,” Khalid said.

Apart from drawing members of Malaysia’s Hindu minority, the temple is popular with tourists.

Khalid said the suspects, aged between 20 and 27, were members of the same IS cell, and had received orders from Wanndy.

“All the suspects were planning to head to Syria to join the IS militant group once they had successfully launched the attack, with the assistance from Wanndy,” Khalid said.

The first suspect, a truck driver, was captured in Selangor state on Saturday. Police seized a grenade, pistol and 24 rounds of ammunition. The second and third suspects, aged 27 and 20, were arrested in Pahang state and Kuala Lumpur on Monday, Khalid added.

Police did not release the names of the suspects, but said the other two were employed as a butcher and a drink seller, according to reports.