Indonesian police to interrogate 23 terror suspects over Bali bombings, other attacks
Indonesian counterterrorism officials will this week interrogate 23 suspected members of al Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), including its military leader and his bodyguards, after conducting a series of raids in the past two months.
The most significant figure to be captured was JI's suspected military commander Aris Sumarsono, also known as Zulkarnaen, who had been on the run for some 18 years, the counterterrorism police squad Detachment 88 (Densus 88) said on Wednesday.
Zulkarnaen was the architect of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 11 Hong Kong residents. He was also involved in another bomb blast in Bali in 2005.
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"Densus88 arrested them in South Sumatra, Lampung, Riau and Jambi," Densus 88 said, referring to several cities on Sumatra Island. "JI hid Zulkarnaen in Lampung in 2017 as he was an asset."
The suspects were flown under tight security to a police detention centre in Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed the men wearing orange uniforms and full face masks, and their feet and hands cuffed as they were led off the plane.
"Some of the suspects who were arrested are the bodyguards of Zulkarnaen," a senior security source told This Week In Asia.
JI was behind all the deadly terror attacks in Indonesia from 1998 to 2010. The recent arrests revealed the extent of Zulkarnaen's involvement in terror attacks and sectarian violence.
According to Densus 88, Zulkarnaen co-founded JI with the group's spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, who is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence for terrorism offences.
Zulkarnaen trained as a militant in Afghanistan in 1985. In 1993, he led a terror training camp in the Philippines. From 1998, he ran the military unit of JI, named Askary, as its commander for six years.
He was also a major figure behind the bloody sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians on the eastern Maluku Islands, which killed thousands in the late 1990s. Zulkarnaen also had a hand in violence in Poso, in Central Sulawesi, Densus88 said.
Since May 2005, Zulkarnaen has been listed on an al-Qaeda sanctions list by the UN Security Council for being associated with Osama bin Laden or the Taliban. The council said that Zulkarnaen, who became an expert in sabotage, was one of al-Qaeda's representatives in Southeast Asia and one of the few people in Indonesia who had had direct contact with bin Laden's network.
The United States' "Rewards for Justice" programme had offered a bounty of up to US$5 million for his capture. He was the only Indonesian on the list.
Police escort suspected militant Upik Lawanga to a detention centre in Jakarta. Photo: AP
Meanwhile, also arrested was JI's expert bomb-maker Taufik Bulaga, known as Upik Lawanga.
"During the arrests of Upik Lawanga, we found ... firearms and a bunker which was going to be used to prepare weapons and terror equipment which would be used for terror acts by JI," Densus88 said.
The remaining 21 JI suspects were arrested on suspicion of aiding in "hiding wanted terror suspects", supplying the logistics for terror equipment and planning new terror acts, Densus88 said.
National Police spokesman Aswin Siregar said on Wednesday that police would investigate how Upik Lawanga and Zulkarnaen eluded capture for years.
"Zulkarnaen was known as a very, very dangerous person globally and in Indonesia," Siregar said. "We will continue to crack down all related to his network."
Additional reporting by AP
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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