Indonesian police to interrogate 23 terror suspects over Bali bombings, other attacks
- The arrested suspects from the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group included its military commander Zulkarnaen, the mastermind of the Bali blasts
- The arrest has revealed the extent of Zulkarnaen’s involvement in terror attacks and sectarian violence in Indonesia in the past two decades
Indonesian counterterrorism officials will this week interrogate 23 suspected members of al Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), including its military leader and his bodyguards, after conducting a series of raids in the past two months.
The most significant figure to be captured was JI’s suspected military commander Aris Sumarsono, also known as Zulkarnaen, who had been on the run for some 18 years, the counterterrorism police squad Detachment 88 (Densus 88) said on Wednesday.
Zulkarnaen was the architect of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 11 Hong Kong residents. He was also involved in another bomb blast in Bali in 2005.
“Densus88 arrested them in South Sumatra, Lampung, Riau and Jambi,” Densus 88 said, referring to several cities on Sumatra Island. “JI hid Zulkarnaen in Lampung in 2017 as he was an asset.”
The suspects were flown under tight security to a police detention centre in Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed the men wearing orange uniforms and full face masks, and their feet and hands cuffed as they were led off the plane.
“Some of the suspects who were arrested are the bodyguards of Zulkarnaen,” a senior security source told This Week In Asia.