INDONESIA — Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism police recently arrested eight suspected militants in recent days believed to be part of a new cell linked to Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked group, authorities said.
Police conducted raids in Central Sulawesi province, said Agus Nugroho, the provincial police chief, adding that five suspects were arrested in the city of Palu, two in Sigi, and one in Poso which is a known extremist hotbed.
Two laptops, several cellular phones
and documents, including jihadi books were seized and suspects were being
interrogated, Nugroho said.
National Police spokesperson Trunoyudo
Wisnu Andiko said the arrests were the result of information obtained from 59
suspected militants detained in Oct. 2023.
“(The eight) all actively participate
in organization activities, particularly in military-style training and
collecting funds for alleged plans of terror acts,” Andiko told reporters at
the National Police headquarters in the capital, Jakarta. He added that
convicted leaders of the group and veteran fighters in Afghanistan were
recruiting and training new members.
Jemaah Islamiyah is responsible for several attacks inside Indonesia, namely, the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. A court banned the group in 2008 and constant counterterrorism crackdowns, supported by the United States and Australia, have weakened it further.
Last year, police arrested a total of 142 suspected militants, including four women, and fatally shot two others on southern Sumatra island.
Militant attacks on foreigners in
Indonesia have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly
strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces, and
people militants consider to be infidels, inspired by Islamic State group
tactics abroad. (AP)
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