Indonesian police detain four suspects for alleged terrorism

Jakarta, Dec 28 The Indonesian police detained four suspects during an operation in West Java, as part of an investigation into alleged terrorist activities, local media reported on Saturday.

This operation, conducted by the National Police's counterterrorism unit, took place in the Majalengka region of the province. Officers reportedly seized several pieces of evidence, including documents and firecrackers.

Indonesia has experienced several terrorist attacks in the past, including the deadly Bali bombings in 2002 and the Makassar cathedral bombing in 2021. In response, the Southeast Asian nation has carried out counterterrorism operations both domestically and internationally, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, on September 4, Indonesia's national police counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, arrested two individuals on suspicion of terrorism activities in the country's province of West Java, according to the unit's spokesperson Aswin Siregar.

He said the arrests took place in the Bekasi area, with several pieces of evidence, and the suspects were undergoing intensive interrogation.

Earlier, on October 20, 2023, the Indonesian police's counterterrorism squad arrested nine people on suspicion of terrorism activities in three separate operations, police said.

Ahmad Ramadhan, spokesman of the National Police, told reporters that five suspects were arrested in South Sumatra, who had alleged ties with the homegrown extremist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is linked to the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

Counterterrorism squad officers arrested one suspect in West Kalimantan and four others in West Nusa Tenggara, who were affiliated with the homegrown extremist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), also linked to the IS group.

The JAD was responsible for a string of attacks in the archipelago, including a suicide bombing at a cathedral in Makassar City on Sulawesi Island in March the previous year and several suicide bombings at churches in East Java in 2018, which killed a dozen people. The group had been declared an illegal organization in 2018.

The JI was behind the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people on the holiday island.

All suspects, the spokesman said, were still under further investigation by police.