Indonesia holds two suspects over Myanmar embassy plot

Indonesian anti-terrorist police have detained two men suspected of planning a bomb attack on the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Friday in the wake of fresh violence against Muslims in Myanmar, officials said.

The suspects were arrested late on Thursday travelling by motorbike in a busy residential area in the south of the capital with five assembled pipe bombs, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said in a statement.

The men, Sefa Riano, 28, and Achmad Taufiq, 21, planned to launch the attack on Friday, said a senior source at the country’s anti-terrorist police, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The head of Indonesia’s anti-terrorist agency, Ansyaad Mbai, said that the target was the Myanmar embassy.

“This was an operation to stop a terrorist action. We are very certain that the attack would have been launched if we did not stop them,” he said, adding that: “Their intention was very clear.”

A woman, believed to be the wife of one of the men, had also been detained to be questioned as a witness over the planned attack, said Amar.