Indonesia Highlights: Indonesian National Police Chief: Makassar Cathedral Suicide Bombers Taught Extremist Beliefs in Prayer Group Meetings | Indonesian National Police to Cooperate Closely With the

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian police investigators have determined that the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah husband and wife suicide bombers behind the Makassar Cathedral suicide bombing have long been known to be the group’s ideologues, before they carried out the blast.

The Indonesian National Police plan to work closely with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and a variety of religious and youth group to protect the Indonesian public from radical ideologies.

And the Densus 88 counterterrorist police are poised to find links between JAD and the outlawed Islamic hardline group the Islamic Defenders Front or FPI, after the banned organization’s attributes during its raid on the militants in Jakarta and Bekasi regency in West Java province.

This and more on this edition of Indonesia Highlights:

Police raid the house of one of the suspects in the Makassar suicide bombing

Indonesian National Police Chief: Makassar Cathedral Suicide Bombers Taught Extremist Beliefs in Prayer Group Meetings

Indonesian National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo announced that the married couple behind Sunday’s suicide attack at Makassar Cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi has long been known to disseminate radical ideologies, months before they carried out the attack that killed them.

“L and YSF, the husband and wife who carried out the suicide attack before Makassar Cathedral, were known to share Jihad doctrines at [Islamic] prayer group meetings,” he said at a press conference in the headquarters of the South Sulawesi Regional Police on Monday.

“These session were regularly attended by their fellow Jamaah Ansharut Daulah [JAD] militants at the Villa Mutiara Blue Cluster housing complex.”

“Aside from instructing their fellow militants with jihadist doctrine, the two were tasked with preparing plans for jihad and buying materials for a suicide bomb since they were married six months ago,” Listyo asserted.

He added that L and YSF worked closely with four of their accomplices in Bima West Nusa Tenggara, AS, SAS, MR and Aa to prepare detonators that they will use in the attack on the Cathedral and other bombings. Listyo declined to elaborate further.

Source:

https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/29/174341678/kapolri-sebut-suami-istri-pelaku-bom-bunuh-diri-di-makassar-berperan. 

KOMPAS.COM/HIMAWAN Indonesian National Police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo at a press conference in the headquarters of the South Sulawesi Regional Police on Monday (29/3/2021)

Indonesian National Police to Cooperate Closely With the Ministry of Religious Affairs to Protect the Indonesian Public From Terrorist Ideologies

Indonesian National Police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo aims to work with the Ministry of Religious Affairs to crack down on radical terrorist ideologies that inspired the suicide blasts at Makassar Cathedral, as well as other deadly attacks in Indonesia over the past 20 years.

“The collaboration with the Ministry of Religious Affairs is designed to prevent terrorist doctrines from making their way to the Indonesian public,” said the four-star general. “Aside from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, we will work closely with youth and religious organizations to reach this goal.”

But Listyo balanced his message by calling the public for calm. “The public has no need to panic over the issue of terrorism. I can assure you that [the police] will root out this issue.”

Listyo’s assertion comes following a wave of police raids on JAD cells in Makassar, Jakarta, the regency of Bekasi in West Java province, as well as Bima, West Nusa Tenggara province or NTB.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/29/17553221/kapolri-gandeng-kemenag-cegah-doktrin-terorisme-di-masyarakat. 

KOMPAS.com/NIRMALA MAULANA ACHMAD The Indonesian Police's bomb disposal teams or Gegana explode a bomb confiscated as evidence during a police raid in Condet, East Jakarta on Monday (29/3/2021). The raid is one of a number of nationwide attacks by the Indonesian Police following a suicide bombing on a Cathedral holding Palm Sunday Mass in Makassar, South Sulawesi

Police Raid On Suspected JAD Cell in Jakarta and Bekasi, West Java Find FPI Attributes

The Indonesian National Police is exploring possible links between the Jamaah Anshor Daulah [JAD] terrorist organization suspected of carrying out the suicide attack on the Makassar Cathderal and the hardline Islamic Defenders Front or FPI.

The move comes, after the latter’s attributes were found during raids on JAD cells in Condet, East Jakarta, and the West Java regency of Bekasi on Monday.

Densus 88 counterterrorist police said they found the FPI souvenirs as they entered the house during the operation. Kompas TV footage of the raid showed a number of FPI items, including a membership card, a jacket, and FPI banners as well as pamphlets and other literature.

“[The police] are trying to determine the possibility that the FPI is involved in any attacks planned by the JAD,” said Jakarta Metropolitan Police chief Inspector General Fadil Imran, following Densus 88’s raid on a house and car showroom inhabited by one of the terroris suspects.

“If we found any suspected links [between the FPI and JAD], then Densus 88 will carry out further investigations.”

Densus 88 found evidence ranging from five live bombs and their detonators, as well as an array of materials to make explosives like acetone, hydrogen peroxide, as well as other chemicals during the raids in Jakarta and Bekasi, among other places. They arrested four people during both raids.

The government outlawed the FPI on December 30, 2020 after the group and its leader Rizieq Shihab disobeyed Covid-19 health protocols multiple times following his return from exile in Saudi Arabia the month before.

FPI members have been caught on video swearing allegiance to ISIS back in 2015.

Source:

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/29/19441971/geledah-terduga-teroris-di-condet-polisi-temukan-atribut-dan-kartu?page=all#page2.