JAKARTA — Indonesian militants supporting Islamic State (IS) planned to attack a police post on New Year’s eve with machetes and knives, the authorities said on Monday, as the country’s elite anti-terror squad foiled yet another attack.
The latest incident has underlined how the militants are determined to carry out attacks over the festive season, despite a massive nationwide security crackdown.
National police spokesperson Rikwanto said four militants were preparing to attack a police post in Purwakarta, a city in West Java on New Year’s eve.
“They had surveyed a few places and in the end they chose the police post as their target … because it has only a few security personnel as compared to the police station and police base,” said Mr Rikwanto, who goes by one name.
The plot was foiled as Indonesia’s Special Counter-Terrorism Detachment 88, also known as Densus 88, arrested two of the would be attackers (only identified as Ivan and Rizal) on Sunday morning who led them to their hideout.
Several hours later, police shot dead their two co-conspirators (identified as Abu Sofi and Abu Faiz), after they tried to attack officers.
“They were told to surrender, but they refused and tried to attack officers with machetes, so we fired warning shots. When they still approached, we shot them,” said Awi Setiyono, another national police spokesman.
The pair which was arrested on Sunday were taken to a police hospital in Jakarta.
Mr Rikwanto said that the group is part of the Jamaah Anshor Daulah, an offshoot of the IS in Indonesia. However, he could not confirm the group’s link with Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian from Central Java who is now believed to be fighting for the IS in Syria.
“We’re still investigating the group’s link with Bahrun Naim. However, they are affiliated with the IS,” he said yesterday (MON).
Mr Rikwanto said the authorities seized several machetes and documents from the suspects’ house, including a will in which they stated that they had pledged their allegiance to the IS and wished to take part in suicide attacks.
The latest incident came amid a security crackdown in several cities on Java after police arrested a would-be suicide bomber and other suspected Islamic militants who were allegedly planning a holiday season suicide bombing earlier this month.
The government has stepped up security across the country, deploying 150,000 security personnel to safeguard churches, airports and other public places.
Three suspected militants who were allegedly planning a New Year’s Eve suicide bombing were killed in a gunbattle last week on the outskirts of Jakarta.
Police said the holiday season plot was uncovered during the interrogation of militants arrested on Dec 10 who were planning a suicide bomb attack on a guard-changing ceremony at the presidential palace in Jakarta the next day.
Police have said the foiled plot planned to take place on Dec 11, in which a woman — who had worked in Singapore as a nanny — was to be the suicide bomber, was orchestrated by Naim.
Naim is believed to have masterminded several terror plots, including a terror attack in Jakarta in January and a rocket attack against Singapore.
On Christmas day, the authorities detained three Indonesian nationals deported from Syria for allegedly joining militants in the war-torn country.
The three men were identified as Tomi Gunawan, 18, a resident of Pekanbaru in Riau; Jang Johana, 25, from Bandung, West Java; and Irfan, 21, from Jakarta.
On the same day, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry noted that since Jan last year, there have been 220 Indonesian citizens deported by the Turkish government for being suspected of crossing the border to join IS.
Those deported from Turkey were brought to the Densus 88 headquarters for investigation upon entering Indonesia.
Source: www.todayonline.com
