Durian. Indonesian Police anti-terror unit Detachment 88 on Feb.4 have transferred 26 terrorist suspects, members of banned terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), from Gorontalo and South Sulawesi provinces on Sulawesi Island to a terrorist prison in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java.
From 26 individuals, seven were arrested in Gorontalo and 19 others in Makassar, South Sulawesi, a National Police (Polri) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono told journalist at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.
“In Gorontalo, their group is known as Ihawal Pahuwato. It is part of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) that’s linked to ISIS,” Hartono explained, referring to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Those who were arrested in Makassar were members of JAD as well active members of the Islamic Defenders’ Front (FPI) for Makassar branch.
Both JAD and FPI are banned mass organizations in Indonesia.
Activities And Plots
Police discovered that those who are from Gorontalo have received trainings including on martial art, shooting, horse riding and archery and they have ability to assembly bomb.
The group has plots including attacking local police headquarters, policing official residents, top-rank officials of Gorontalo’s residents and robbery to some shops there, Hartono said.
Meanwhile, those who are from Makassar have ability to commit suicide bombing, he explained.
Link to Philippines 2019 Cathedral Bombings
There is one of five children of couple suicide bombers at Sulu’s Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Philippines in 2019 among 19 suspected terrorists from Makassar.
Hartono explained, from the bomber couple Rullie Rian Zeke and wife Ulfah Handayani Saleh’s five children, two of them have been joining Philippines’ terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, another is being detained by authorities of the country due to terrorism activities, their one sibling is now in Syria to wage jihad and the last one was detained in Makassar during Detachment 88 raids on Jan.6 and 7.
One of the couple bomber’s son in-law fugitive Andi Baso was involved in 2016 church bombing in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. Police believe Baso is hiding in Philippines.
There are three female among 26 suspected terrorists who were transferred from Sulawesi to Java on Jan.4.
