Indonesia anti-terror squad kills six militants

Published January 1, 2014
In August, a small bomb exploded outside a Buddhist temple packed with praying devotees in Jakarta. Officials have said the attack appears to have been meant to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Myanmar.	— File photo
In August, a small bomb exploded outside a Buddhist temple packed with praying devotees in Jakarta. Officials have said the attack appears to have been meant to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Myanmar. — File photo

JAKARTA: Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism squad shot and killed six suspected militants and arrested another amid New Year's Eve celebrations in an all-night standoff at a house near the country's capital, a police spokesman said Wednesday.

Intelligence gathered from earlier arrests allowed police to storm hideouts in Ciputat on Jakarta's outskirts as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy and a Buddhist temple, said National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar.

The nine-hour-long shootout started late Tuesday when most Indonesians were preparing to celebrate the end of the year and ended Wednesday.

Amar said those killed had refused to surrender and had fired guns and lobbed homemade bombs at security forces, injuring one police officer in his leg.

He said the men were suspected of being part of a larger group involved in robberies used to fund terrorist activities, mainly aimed at police.

They also were linked to terrorist group led by Santoso — on the police's most wanted list — in Poso, a flashpoint of terrorism in Central Sulawesi where a Muslim-Christian conflict killed at least 1,000 people from 1998 to 2002.

''There is a strong indication that they were involved in a series of police killings,'' Amar told reporters, adding police found at least six homemade bombs at the house.

Police were trying to determine whether the men killed in the raid were connected to an alleged plot in May against the Myanmar Embassy to retaliate against Myanmar for attacks on Muslims in that country.

In August, a small bomb exploded outside a Buddhist temple packed with praying devotees in Jakarta.

One person was injured, but two other devices failed to explode. Officials have said the attack appears to have been meant to avenge the deaths of Muslims in Myanmar.

Sectarian violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar has killed scores of people, and tens of thousands of Muslims have been driven from their homes.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has been battling terrorists since bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Such attacks aimed at foreigners have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces.

Opinion

One year on

One year on

Governance by the ruling coalition has been underwhelming and marked by growing authoritarianism.

Editorial

Climate funding gap
Updated 17 Feb, 2025

Climate funding gap

Pakistan must boost its institutional capacity to develop bankable climate projects.
UN monitoring report
Updated 17 Feb, 2025

UN monitoring report

Pakistan must press Kabul diplomatically over its tolerance of TTP terrorism.
Tax policy reform
17 Feb, 2025

Tax policy reform

THE cabinet’s decision to create a Tax Policy Office at the finance ministry has raised hopes that tax policy is...
Maintaining balance
Updated 16 Feb, 2025

Maintaining balance

It must take a more proactive approach to establishing Pakistan’s bona fides.
Welcome return
16 Feb, 2025

Welcome return

IT is almost here; the moment Pakistan has long been waiting for — the first International Cricket Council...
Childhood trauma
16 Feb, 2025

Childhood trauma

BEING a child in this society should not be so hard. But recurrent reports of child abuse — from burying girl...