Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Police and anti-terrorist group Densus 88 today arrested 15 terrorists with weapons of war, following an operation in the forests of Aceh Besar Regency, Aceh, and after a shootout. Inspector General Edward Aritonang, spokesman for the police, reported the episode saying that those arrested may be connected with the Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Automatic weapons, thousands of bullets, propaganda material, Islamic fundamentalist books and DVDs and military uniforms similar to Malaysian ones were seized.
For days the police had combed the forest, looking for a military training centre for terrorists. In a first foray February 22 they arrested 4 suspected terrorists after a gun battke in which militants killed two innocent bystanders, a man and his son.
Yesterday at dawn, always in Aceh another suspected terrorist tried to escape carrying weapons and was killed in a shootout, after being stopped for inspection on board a bus in which he was travelling as a normal passenger. Two other people travelling with him escaped. Other passengers are under investigation.
Aritonang said that "it is likely that this group is organizing an imminent armed attack" in the country, but did not explain whether there are indications of the possible target. He added that some terrorists have carried out military training in other countries, but did not disclose where.
The police have also ruled that the terrorists arrested in recent weeks are former members of the Aceh separatist Movement for the Liberation of Aceh (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka). This group signed a peace agreement with the Indonesian government in 2005 after 29 years of civil warfare with the army and the police. In exchange for the dissolution of GAM, Jakarta granted autonomy to the provincial government of Aceh and has enabled the adoption of Islamic law (shariah) in the predominantly Muslim province.
