Members of a Somalian terror group have been entering Malaysia by pretending to be private college students and tourists, reports in the media say.

Analysts warn that lax security measures for visitors make the country vulnerable to terrorists seeking to set up a base in the region.

Malaysia’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Unit has been tracking six Al-Shabaab members – a group linked to the terrorist Al-Qaeda network – who entered the country several weeks ago, The Star newspaper reported yesterday, quoting unnamed police sources.

… Ms Choong Pui Yee, an analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University, said Malaysia has been more vigilant on counter-terrorism in recent years, as seen by the arrest of high-profile terrorist suspect Mas Selamat in 2009.

“But tracking down terrorism nests in Malaysia is harder, as these individual suspects may be using Malaysia only as a transit point and hold legitimate visas which enable them to travel in and out more easily,” she said.