Indonesian officials arrest suspected key figure in Jemaah Islamiah, group behind the Bali bombings

Indonesia’s counter-terrorism squad has arrested Abu Rusdan, a suspected chief of the Al Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiah, which has been blamed for a string of previous assaults, together with the 2002 Bali bombings.

The convicted militant was seized late on Friday in Bekasi, close to the capital of Jakarta, together with three different suspected members of Jemaah Islamiah, police spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan stated on Monday.

Indonesian authorities take into account Rusdan to be a key determine in Jemaah Islamiah, which the US and UN have designated a terrorist group. 

The shadowy South-East Asian community is broadly blamed for assaults within the Philippines and Indonesia — together with the bombings in Bali that killed 202 individuals, together with 88 Australians.

Mr Ramadhan described the arrests as a part of a broader nationwide crackdown on the group. 

Police are nonetheless looking for other suspected members, following suggestions the group is recruiting and coaching new members in Indonesia.

Who’s Abu Rusdan?

Born in Central Java, Rusdan, 61, was sentenced to jail in 2003 for sheltering Ali Ghufron, a militant who was later convicted and executed for finishing up the Bali bombings.

After his launch from jail in 2006, Rusdan travelled Indonesia giving speeches and fiery sermons that obtained tens of 1000’s of views on YouTube. 

In a single recorded sermon, he praised because the “land of jihad” Afghanistan — the nation the place he had beforehand educated with different militant teams.

Indonesia’s police counter-terrorism unit, often known as Densus 88, has swept up 53 alleged members of Jemaah Islamiah previously weeks, throughout 11 completely different provinces.

An Indonesian courtroom banned the group in 2008 and a sustained crackdown by the nation’s safety forces, with support from the US and Australia, has helped to weaken the militant community.

Counter-terrorism crackdown

A spokesman for Indonesia’s Nationwide Intelligence Company, Wawan Hari Purwanto, stated in a video assertion early this month that following the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, officers had stepped up their efforts at early detection and prevention “notably towards terrorist teams which have hyperlinks to the Taliban’s ideology and networks”.

Indonesia’s counter-terrorism crackdown has been ongoing for months already.

Prior to now 12 months, Indonesian officers say counter-terrorism forces have captured dozens of militants and suspected members of the Jemaah Islamiah, together with its alleged navy chief, Zulkarnaen, who had been needed for greater than 18 years.

Militant assaults on foreigners in Indonesia have been largely changed in recent times by smaller, much less lethal strikes focusing on the federal government, primarily police and safety forces, impressed by Islamic State techniques overseas.

AP