After months on Tao’s trail, police last night stormed his safe house in a residential area of Cot Iri, Aceh Besar Regency, about 70 kilometres from Banda Aceh, capital of Aceh province.

His death comes two days after the arrest of six terror suspects allegedly involved in the Australian Embassy bombing and an attack against the J W Marriot Hotel.

Police spokesman Inspector General Edward Aritonang said that one of the arrested, Bayu Sena, had planned the attack against the private residence of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

On 29 October 2005, Theresia Morangke, 15, Alfita Poliwo and Yarni Sambe, both 17, were walking home when they were attacked in the Gebang Rejo area, in Poso. The three girls had their heads cut off with a machete; two were dumped near a police station, the third was left in front of a church. A fourth girl Noviana Malewa, survived but had deep wounds to the head and the face.

At the time, the crime shocked people both in Indonesia and abroad. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the triple murder; Benedict XVI called it a “barbaric murder”.

The investigation found that Islamic extremists were behind the attack. They were led by one Hassanudin (aka Hasan or Slamet Raharjo), now in prison with three other people for periods ranging from 14 to 20 years. Enal Tao was a member of the same group that carried out the slaughter. He is also believed to have recruited Indonesian extremists for training in Mindanao, southern Philippines.

Last night, police captured four terror suspects hiding in a store in Beurawe sub-district in Banda Aceh. Agents seized a computer and important documents about the group’s activities. A local police source said that the suspects were “involved in paramilitary training.”