‘Jihad’ attacks foiled

Haiti

Herdi Indonesian counter-terrorism police said on Sunday they had arrested suspected Islamist militants in locations across the island of Java, foiling separate plots to bomb minority Shia communities and target Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Bomb-making materials and ‘jihad manuals’ were seized after the arrest of six men in central and west Java who were either members or supporters of the Sunni militant group Islamic State, the Jakarta Globe daily said on its website.

Chemicals and weapons were found buried under a tree at one raid site in the city of Solo.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti told the Globe that the raids to round up the men, which began on Friday, were prompted by intelligence from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Australian Federal Police.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion.

Separately, police said four men suspected of being weapons specialists and strategists of the al Qaedaaffiliated Jamaah Islamiah group had been arrested in east Java.

“They had made plans for actions in the near term, in relation to Christmas and New Year,” Budhi Herdi Susianto, chief of police in the east Java regency of Mojokerto told Metro TV. (RTRS)