Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Indonesia police in shootout with suspected militants | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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JAKARTA, (Reuters) – Indonesian police have been involved in shooting with suspected Islamic militants in Temanggung in Central Java, national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said on Friday.

Soekarna said he could not elaborate, but police have been hunting for suspected militants involved in deadly suicide attacks last month on two luxury hotels in Jakarta.

The July 17 attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton killed nine and wounded 53, including Indonesians and foreigners.

Police have yet to identify the perpetrators but suspect that Malaysian-born militant Noordin Mohammad Top, who heads a splinter group of radical Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah, may have helped plan the attacks.

Police have been focusing much of their search on Central Java, where Top is believed to have a network of sympathisers to help shelter him.

Top is believed to have planned previous bomb attacks on the JW Marriott in Jakarta in 2003, on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004, and in Bali in 2005 — attacks designed to scare off foreign tourists and businesses so that JI could create a caliphate across Southeast Asia.