Malaysia has arrested six foreigners and one Malaysian for suspected links to militant groups including Islamic State, the police chief said on Sunday.

The Southeast Asian nation has been on high alert since suicide bombers and gunmen linked to Islamic State launched multiple attacks in Jakarta, the capital of neighboring Indonesia, in January 2016.

A grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, in June last year wounded eight people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks, the first of such attacks on Malaysian soil.

Malaysia has arrested hundreds over the last few years for suspected links to militant groups.

In the latest arrests made between Feb. 21 and Feb. 26, one Malaysian and one Indonesian were detained for planning to launch a large-scale car bomb attack using a "vehicle borne improvised explosive device," before leaving to join ISIS in Syria, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement.