Indonesia Police Kill Six Terrorist Suspects

Jan. 1, 2014 2:40 a.m. ET

Indonesian antiterror policemen blocked the street during a terrorist raid at a house in Tangerang’s Ciputat district. European Pressphoto Agency

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesian police shot and killed six suspected terrorists in an all-night standoff amid New Year’s celebrations near Jakarta, police said Wednesday.
Inspector General Suhardi Alius, the National Police’s crime investigations chief, said those killed were suspected of being involved in a bombing of a Buddhist temple and a plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy, both in Jakarta in 2013.
The firefight began Tuesday evening and lasted until dawn Wednesday, Mr. Suhardi said.
The police’s elite antiterrorism unit surrounded the suspects in a rented house in Ciputat, on the southwestern outskirts of Jakarta, killing one outside the house before a prolonged firefight ensued, Mr. Suhardi said.
Police said they returned fire after suspects in the house refused to surrender.
Six homemade bombs were found in the house, police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told reporters.
Mr. Suhardi said the suspects were likely connected with the network of Abu Umar. Its groups, police say, have robbed several banks across Indonesia to help fund terror activities in the eastern part of the country.
He also said the killed men were suspected of being involved with Santoso, leader of the militant group Mujahidin Indonesia Timur. Mr. Santoso, who goes by only one name, is a former member of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian branch of al Qaeda that was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, Indonesia’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
Police have said the bombing of the Buddhist temple and the attempted embassy attack last year were in retaliation against Myanmar, where majority Buddhists and minority Muslims have clashed. Indonesia is the world’s most Muslim-populous country.
In December, an Indonesian admitted in court to building a bomb intended for use in the embassy attack. He could face the death penalty under the charge of an act of terrorism. Five other suspects are in early stages of the court process.
Ramped-up counterterrorism efforts since the early 2000s have diminished the capacity of terrorist networks in the country, but groups with the capacity to stage robberies and limited attacks on police persist.
Write to Ben Otto at ben.otto@wsj.com

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