Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism police have arrested eight suspected militants in recent days who are believed to be members of a new group linked to the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, authorities said on Saturday.
Police conducted raids in Central Sulawesi between Tuesday and Thursday, Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho said, adding that five suspects were arrested in Palu city , two suspects were arrested in Sigi and one in Poso, a well-known hotbed of extremism.
Nugroho said two laptops, several mobile phones and documents including jihadist books were seized and the suspects were being interrogated.
National police spokesman Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said the arrests were based on information obtained from 59 suspected militants detained in October 2023.
“(The eight) are all actively involved in organizing activities, especially military-style training and raising funds for suspected terrorist activity plans,” Andico told reporters at the national police headquarters in the capital Jakarta. He added that the group has been convicted of Leaders and Afghanistan veterans are recruiting and training new members.
JI is responsible for several attacks in Indonesia, including a 2002 bombing on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. A court banned the group in 2008, and an ongoing counterterrorism crackdown backed by the United States and Australia has further weakened it.
Last year, police arrested 142 suspected militants, including four women, and shot dead two others in southern Sumatra.
In Indonesia, in recent years, militant attacks on foreigners have largely been replaced by smaller, less lethal attacks targeting the government (mainly the police and counterterrorism forces) and those whom militants consider to be infidels. Inspiration from the tactics of the Islamic State group abroad.
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