INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Three men with suspected links to Islamic State have been arrested over the stabbing of two Chinese nationals and an Australian in the
Maldives.The attack happened on Tuesday night in Hulhumale, an island four miles (7km) north of the capital Male.One of the Chinese
nationals was a tourist and the two other victims worked in the city.A Maldivian radical group affiliated with Islamic State said it carried
out the attack in a video posted online, according to local news reports.One of the three masked men seen in the video accused the Maldivian
government of being run by infidels and warned more attacks would follow.Last year, a 35-year-old man identified as a leader for Islamic
State in the Maldives by US authorities was arrested for allegedly leading IS recruitment in the mainly Sunni Muslim nation.Islamic State
said it carried out deadly bombings in Sri Lanka in April last year, and has been looking to bolster its presence in the sub-continent after
being driven out of its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria.The Maldives parliament has given sweeping investigative powers to
counter-terrorism agencies, and authorities have stepped up operations against hardline Islamist groups.
