Indonesia says militant's arrest reveals plots, new IS links

JAKARTA, July 23 (Reuters) - Indonesian police said on
Tuesday a suspected militant arrested last week was plotting
Independence Day bomb attacks and they suspect he was part of a
network behind violence in the Philippines that also has ties to
Islamic State in Afghanistan.
Officers from Indonesia's anti-terrorism unit, Densus 88,
arrested the suspect in the province of West Sumatra last
Thursday, national police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo told a news
conference.
The suspect, identified as Novendri, was a member of the
Islamic State-inspired Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group, which
was banned in Indonesia last year for "conducting terrorism" and
being affiliated with foreign militants.
Authorities believe Novendri was planning bomb attacks
including two police headquarters in the city of Padang in West
Sumatra province and other police posts on Independence Day on
Aug. 17, Prasetyo said.
Police displayed a chart at the news conference, setting out
the suspected foreign links of Indonesian militants including a
leader, identified as Saefulah, who is believed to be based in
an area of Afghanistan where Islamic State militants operate.
According to Prasetyo, some Indonesian militants had tried
to reach Afghanistan after the defeat of Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria.
Another Indonesian on the chart, who was arrested in the
city of Bekasi in West Java, was suspected of planning a suicide
attacks in the capital, Jakarta, during protests in May over a
disputed election, said Prasetyo.
Police also think the network had links to militants in the
Philippines and helped a husband and wife travel there from
Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
Authorities believe the couple carried out a suicide attack
on a cathedral on Jolo island in the southern Philippines in
February in which 22 people were killed. Prasetyo said Indonesian anti-terrorism officers were
working with police from various countries including Malaysia,
the Philippines, Afghanistan, the United States and Australia in
their investigation.
Indonesia, which is the world's biggest Muslim-majority
country, is grappling with a resurgence in militancy.
The government scrambled to tighten its anti-terrorism laws
after a series of suicide bombings linked to JAD cells killed
more than 30 people in the city of Surabaya last year.
Hundreds of people have been detained under the new laws
since the beginning of 2019.