Indonesia’s fight against terrorism this week seems to be encroaching ever closer to the capital city of Jakarta with the news that two suspected terrorists were arrested in the satellite city of Tangerang today.
The National Police’s Special Detachment 88 Anti-Terrorism Squad (Densus 88) this afternoon captured two suspected terrorists near Duta Bintaro housing complex. Though witnesses claimed they heard gunshots at the scene, police say that the suspects posed no resistance during their arrest.
“The arrest was not resisted. It was carried out persuasively,” said Tangerang City Police Chief Harry Kurniawan, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
The authorities have not yet disclosed the identities of the suspects or what terror network they belong to.
Indonesia has been hit with numerous terror attacks this week, most of them occurring in the East Java Province, where the latest casualty count across five explosion sites in the cities of Surabaya and Sidoarjo stands at at least 28 dead and 57 injured. The latest attack occurred this morning at the Riau Provincial Police headquarters, leaving one policeman dead.
On Monday, the East Java Police said they had tracked down seven people suspected of having a connection to the terrorist attacks or the group behind them, two of whom were killed for attacking officers. The police are also pursuing two individuals believed to be “teachers” of radical terrorist ideology to the suicide bombers.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the recent suicide bombings in Indonesia via its propaganda agency Amaq, calling them “martyrdom attacks”. Police say that the bombings, as well as last week’s prison riot in Depok, were all done based upon instructions from the terror group’s central command.
