Indonesia arrests 40 militant suspects ahead of inauguration

Indonesia's elite force of anti-terrorism unit went on a busy 24-hour spree to root out suspected Islamic militants ahead of a presidential inauguration at end of this week which will be attended by several Asian leaders and Western countries' envoys. Arrests have come in the wake of an attack in which a militant stabbed Indonesia's top security minister Wiranto, who is currently recovering.

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Details of Arrest

Reports say that 40 suspects have been detained by the counter-terrorism squad known as Densus 88 in eight provinces, including four who were captured on October 17 as per national police spokesperson Dedi Prasetyo. The crackdown was followed after a tipoff about possible attacks against police and places of worship. 

Six of the arrested militants, including a woman, were presented in a news conference Thursday in orange detainee shirts and under heavy guard at the police headquarters. They were not identified by police. The police also displayed explosive chemicals for bomb-making, knives, jihadi books, airsoft guns and rifles with silencers and sniper scopes they said were seized from the suspects. Suspects were two female police officers who had been radicalised and were willing to be suicide bombers. 

Arrests have come in the wake of an attack in which a militant stabbed Indonesia's top security minister Wiranto, who is currently recovering. President-elect Joko Widodo has ordered government forces to hunt down the militants responsible for the attack.  Wiranto, a local police chief, and a third man was wounded in broad daylight attack in the Banten province last week by suspected militant Syahril Alamsyah and his wife, Fitria Andriana. Both are believed to be members of a local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as the Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, or JAD.

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Indonesia and Militancy

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and has been fighting militancy since bombings on a resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people mostly foreigners.  Attacks at foreigners have now largely been replaced by smaller, less deadly strikes which target government mainly police and anti-terrorism forces and local 'infidels'. Reports suggest that in May last year, two families carried out suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya, killing a dozen people and two young girls whose parents were involved in one of the attacks. Police said the father of two girls was the leader of a cell in larger militancy network which claimed allegiance to ISIS. 

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(With inputs from AP)