Arrests Continue in Indonesia
By Kenneth Conboy
This past Sunday, six terrorists were captured in Medan, North Sumatra province, by Indonesia's counter-terrorist unit, Special Detachment 88. All were thought to be linked to a paramilitary camp in Aceh that was raided in February and two of them, Pandu Wicaksono Widyan Putro and Bayu Sena, were said to be tied to the twin hotel bombings in Jakarta last July.
Yesterday, the police ambushed another five terrorist suspects in Aceh, one of whom was shot dead.
In Jakarta, meanwhile, the National Police spokesman confirmed that two police officers had been implicated in supplying the Aceh group with firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Special Detachment 88 will likely continue its raids in and around Aceh to round up those camp members that have thus far evaded the police dragnet. And with President Barack Obama expected to visit Indonesia in June, security forces will no doubt ramp up their state of alert in Jakarta by next month.
