Indonesian anti-terrorism squad raid: three arrests, five extremists killed
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Three arrests and five extremists killed. This is the result of a series of raids carried out by Indonesian anti-terrorism teams, which began yesterday afternoon and throughout the night in the provinces of Central Java, West Java and East Jakarta. During the operations, the special forces seized ammunition, Kalashnikov AK-47 and M 16 rifles, pistols and grenades.
At night, the anti-terrorism squad Densus 88 captured two suspects in Solo, Central Java Province. They are Joko Purwanto and Abdul Hamid. A few hours later, the military arrested a third suspect, identified by the name of Erwin in the village of Baki, Sukoharjo district, about 10 km south of Solo. During the raid several AK-47 and M-16 rifles and bulletproof vests, plus hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized.
Yesterday afternoon the special units also carried out two separate raids in East Java and Cikampek in West Java province, about 70 km east of Jakarta. Inspector General Edward Aritonang, a police spokesman, reported that the two men killed in Cikampek are on top of the wanted list of the country’s most dangerous for their involvement in the bomb attack on the Australian embassy in September 2004 (14 dead and dozens injured).
Internal sources add that the two terrorists killed were Mulyana and Sapte, but police spokesman would not confirm this. Sapte, among other things, is known to the police because he is believed to have taken control of training centres for terrorists in the province of Aceh, following the death of his brother Jaja. Mulyana, however, was believed to have been detained in Malaysia under internal security laws. Also yesterday in a second operation three terrorists were killed in Cawang, East Jakarta.
The Indonesian government continues its hard line against terrorism, with targeted operations against extremist leaders and training centres. However, there are still 25 top extremists on the run, including Abdullah Sonata and Abu Yusuf - aka Mustaqim - trained in a specialized field in the southern Philippines.
The police spokesman added that the five terrorists killed were preparing bloody attacks against sensitive targets, without giving further details.
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