Indonesia Highlights: Densus 88 Uncovers Terrorist Training Center | Indonesian Tourists Flock Yogyakarta | Covid-19 Situation in Jakarta is Worsening

KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Counterterrorism Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) uncovered a terrorist training center in a two-floor villa in Semarang, Central Java.

The Densus 88 team discovered the site as part of their measures to unravel terrorist activities in which the training center is believed to be run by the terrorist group, Jemaah Islamiyah.

In other news, the year-end holiday is proving to exacerbate the spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia as crowds begin to form in Yogyakarta and Jakarta.

During the Christmas and New Year’s holiday break, a growing number of tourists are flocking tourist attractions in Yogyakarta where the Central Java town sees around 2,000 tourists per day and the tally is on the up.

In Indonesia’s capital city, the number of Covid-19 cases in Jakarta has worsened with daily 2,000 fresh infections on Saturday alone.

More details on today’s Indonesia news are highlighted below:

1. Indonesia’s Densus 88 Uncovers Terrorist Training Center in Central Java

Indonesia’s Densus 88 believes that the training center discovered in Semarang was used to train youths for self-defense and weaponry skills specifically to target very very important persons (VVIPs).

The country’s leaded counterterrorism body believes that Jemaah Islamiyah sought to train youths to become skilled at using swords, bomb-making, samurai swords, and carrying out an ambush.

Densus 88 stated that one of the center’s trainers is Joko Priyono or also known as Karso.

Indonesia’s counterterrorism body further shared that the youths have recruited from several Islamic boarding schools.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/27/15212711/kelompok-teroris-jamaah-islamiyah-latih-anak-muda-di-jawa-tengah-rakit-bom

2. Indonesian Tourists Crowding Yogyakarta’s Tourist Attractions

The Central Java town of Yogyakarta is not immune to the hoards of Indonesian tourists flocking to tourist destinations and hometowns for the year-end holiday.

With nearly 2,000 tourists each day since the start of the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, the city’s government is anticipating the numbers to grow leading up to the final days of 2020.

During the previous long holiday breaks, Yogyakarta saw tourist numbers around 1,500 per day thus demonstrating the surge in tourist arrivals during the final stretch of this year.

Source: https://regional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/26/21172961/libur-panjang-kerumunan-tidak-terelakkan-di-yogyakarta 

3. Covid-19 Cases in Jakarta Continue to Worsen

The Head of the Disease Prevention and Mitigation Division for Jakarta’s Health Agency, Dwi Oktavia stated that one state-owned hospital reported 199 new Covid-19 cases on Christmas Eve.

Dwi added that as of Saturday, Covid-19 cases in Indonesia’s capital city reached 2,058 indicating a worsening coronavirus epidemic in the city.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in Jakarta is 13,949 as of Dec. 26 affecting 265 out of 267 sub-districts.

Source: https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2020/12/27/15354791/kasus-covid-19-di-jakarta-kian-memburuk-ini-25-kelurahan-dengan-kasus?page=all#page2