Move FM Global News

JAKARTA, Indonesia: On April 21, Indonesian officials said elite counterterrorism police arrested eight suspected militants believed to be members of a new cell linked to al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Agus Nugroho, the provincial police chief, said police conducted raids in Central Sulawesi province last week.

Five suspects were arrested in the city of Palu, two in Sigi, and one in Poso, which is known as a hotbed for extremism, he added.

Two laptops, several cellular phones, and documents, including jihadist books were seized and suspects were being interrogated, Nugroho further said.

The arrests were made possible by information obtained from 59 suspected militants detained in October 2023, National Police spokesperson Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko told reporters at the National Police headquarters in the capital, Jakarta.

“The eight all actively participate in organization activities, particularly in military-style training and collecting funds for alleged plans of terror acts,” Andiko said, adding that the group’s convicted leaders and veteran fighters in Afghanistan were recruiting and training new members.

Jemaah Islamiyah has conducted several attacks inside Indonesia, most notably the 2002 bombings on the island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

The group was banned in 2008, and it has been weakened by constant counterterrorism crackdowns supported by the U.S. and Australia.

Police arrested a total of 142 suspected militants, including four women, and killed two others in southern Sumatra in 2023.

In recent years, terrorist attacks on foreigners in Indonesia have been mostly replaced by minor attacks against the government, especially police and anti-terrorism forces, as well as those who militants consider to be infidels.