Head of Jemaah Islamiyah captured in Indonesia
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Indonesia has captured the head of the South-East Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), said on Friday the commander of country’s anti-terrorism unit Densus-88. The man was named as Zarkasih but is also known as Mbah.
“He is the acting head of JI. He is above Abu Dujana and was captured on the same day,” said Densus-88 Chief Suryadarma Salim Nasution.
Just two days ago police said they had caught the country's most-wanted Islamic militant, Abu Dujana, who headed the JI’s military wing.
Zarkarsih was caught on Saturday in the central Java city of Yogyakarta.
At the news conference, police showed video testimonies from Zarkasih and Dujana, in which the former said he was JI’s acting head.
Like other JI operatives the bespectacled Zarkasih received military training in Afghanistan in the 80s and oversaw operations in Poso, an area on Sulawesi Island that experienced sectarian strife from 1998 to 2001.
Police are still looking for Malaysian-born Noordin M Top, who is considered a key player in a series of attacks in South-East Asia, including the 2005 bombing that killed more than 20 people on the resort island of Bali.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla today said that Noordin’s days running are almost over.
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