11 Terror Suspects Arrested in Indonesia's Papua

KOMPAS.com - The Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) Anti-terror Team of the National Police and the Merauke Resort Police on Sunday, May 30 arrested another terror suspect in Merauke regency, Papua, bringing the total number to 11.

The 11 suspected terrorists who have been arrested in the past three days in Merauke are linked to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a terror group that supports the Islamic State extremists. They were suspected of carrying out suicide attacks in front of a cathedral in the Indonesian city of Makassar, South Sulawesi during a Palm Sunday in March. They tried to enter the church premises but had been stopped by security personnel.

“The JAD group is linked to the attack in Makassar in March,” said the Papua Regional Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri in Jayapura, Sunday.

According to Fakhiri, the terrorist suspects have also been active in undertaking bail or recruitment in several districts. Fakhiri said the JAD terror group may have entered several other districts around Merauke.

Previously, an explosion occurred in front of the Makassar Cathedral Church on March 28. It was declared a suicide bomber, with the husband and wife who detonated the bomb died on the spot.

Head of the Counter-extremism and Counterterrorism Agency at the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Muhammad Syauqillah, explained that the terrorists in Indonesia comprise two patterns. First, they carry out the terrors in the form of a network, such as JAD, which is related to the Islamic State and Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

Second, those who move on their own or known as the lone wolf. Previously, the Indonesian police shot dead a woman who had opened fire at officers at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta on March 31. Identified only by her initials, ZA had fired six times at officers near an entrance post to the headquarters.

KOMPAS.com/DHIAS SUWANDI Papuan Regional Police Chief Inspector General Mathius D Fakhiri.

ANTARA FOTO/MUHAMMAD ADIMAJA Police personnel in bullet-proof vests and rifles stand guard at the National Police Headquarters, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 31. The National Police Headquarters has tightened guard after the attack from a suspected terrorist who died on the spot after a shootout.

ANTARA FOTO/MUHAMMAD ADIMAJA Police in bulletproof vests and assault rifles guard the Indonesian National Police Headquarters in Jakarta, hours after a woman carried out a lone wolf attack aimed at National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo on Wednesday, March 31.

ABRIAWAN ABHE Police officers conduct an investigation around the remains of the explosion of the alleged suicide bombing in front of the Catholic Church in the Cathedral, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Sunday, March 28. The bomb explosion at the church resulted in the death of two suspected suicide bombers and injuring 14 members of the church and church officials.

ABRIAWAN ABHE Police officers stand guard at the site of a suspected suicide bombing in front of the Makassar Cathedral Church, South Sulawesi, Sunday, March 28.

(Writers: Nur Fitriatus Shalihah, Dhias Suwandi | Editors : Sari Hardiyanto, Reza Kurnia Darmawan, Dony Aprian)

Sources: Kompas.com