Indonesian anti-terror police shot dead three suspects and arrested 15 others in a series of raids in which militants used women and children as human shields, police said Monday. Police confirmed that raids on Sumatra island targeted Islamist militants linked to regional extremist network Jemaah Islamiyah and unidentified foreign groups which were plotting attacks in the archipelago.
The suspects were behind a bank robbery in the Sumatran city of Medan on August 18 in which heavily armed gunmen escaped with around 40,000 dollars, police said. "They committed the robbery to collect funds to buy firearms, grenades and other weapons to commit terror acts in Indonesia, especially North Sumatra," national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told a press conference in Medan. He said 15 suspects remained at large, including at least one who had fled overseas.
The group was connected to a militant outfit that was discovered in Aceh, northern Sumatra, in February, leading to the killing and arrest of scores of suspects. "We'll continue to investigate but we suspect they're supported by overseas networks," the police chief said, when asked if there was a link to al Qaeda. The US- and Australian-trained Detachment 88 is Indonesia's strike weapon against jihadist militants but it has been criticised for killing suspects and allegedly torturing detainees.
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