Jakarta - Arab Today
Indonesia’s anti-terror squad has arrested two militants who were planning to attack prominent places in the country’s capital, including the Myanmar Embassy, police said Sunday.
An interrogation of suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibawa, who was arrested this past week, led authorities to the men, said national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar. All three claimed allegiance to the Daesh group.
Bahrain Agam was arrested in northern Aceh province late Saturday and Saiful Bahri was captured in Banten province on Sunday, Amar said.
Police had said that Wibawa had sufficient explosives at his home in West Java province to make bombs three times more powerful than those used in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
Since the Bali bombings, which were carried out by the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah militant group, a security crackdown has netted hundreds of radicals and reduced their capacity for large attacks. But a new threat has emerged from the hundreds of Indonesians who have traveled abroad to fight with IS and their supporters in Indonesia.
Amar said the arrested militants told authorities they wanted to retaliate against Myanmar for recent attacks on Rohingya Muslims. They also planned to attack Indonesia’s parliament, police headquarters and television stations. An attack on the embassy could have been carried out this month or next, Amar said.
The embassy in Jakarta was the scene of protests against the persecution of Rohingya on Thursday and Friday. Protests also occurred in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand.
Source: Arab News