In a raid in West Java, Indonesian police arrested four suspects in the course of investigating alleged terrorist activities. The Majalengka region of the province was the location of the operation by the National Police’s counterterrorism unit. It has been reported that several things, including papers and firecrackers, have been taken away by the officers.
Indonesia has suffered from some terrorist attacks, beginning with the bombings of Bali in 2002 and Makassar Cathedral in 2021. It is against this background that Indonesia conducted both domestic and international counter-terrorism operations. As such, it has adopted a very aggressive manner in the conduct of its counter-terrorism operations, especially towards groups such as JI and other emerging threats.
The country had simulation exercises that enhanced preparedness in case chemical terrorism occurred. This is conducted under the National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT), with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The several agencies involved included police and military units. The training prepares responders for a probable attack using chemical agents, now a major issue due to some past occurrences within the country.
Earlier, in September 2024, counterterrorism squad Densus 88 of the national police nabbed two individuals in the province of West Java with suspicion against them related to terrorist activities in the country, according to the unit’s spokesperson, Aswin Siregar. He said that several evidence pieces were found in the Bekasi area during the arrests and the suspects are being questioned intensively.
After a May 2024 terrorist attack in which a sympathizer of IS murdered two police officers, Malaysia has upped its counterterrorism efforts. The police detained eight individuals connected to IS who were allegedly involved in plotting an attack against key officials in June 2024. This has been the largest increase in terrorism threats from the domestic front facing Malaysia.
Earlier, in October 2023, three men accused of running terrorist activities were arrested within three separate operations that the Indonesian Police’s counter-terrorism squad conducted as police said. National Police spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan says that five suspects were arrested in South Sumatra Tuesday, among them reportedly with ties to the local terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), believed to be affiliated with the terror group Islamic State.
A counterterrorism squad arrested one in West Kalimantan and four in West Nusa Tenggara. All are connected with a local radical group known as Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), also tied to the IS group. The JAD is blamed for several attacks in the archipelago: a suicide attack on a cathedral in Makassar City in Sulawesi Island in March last year and several church suicide bombings across East Java last year, leaving a dozen people dead. This group was previously declared an illegal organization in 2018.
