Densus 88 seizes two homemade bombs from Yogyakarta ISIS sympathizer
The National Police’s Anti-terror Special Detachment (Densus) 88 confiscated two homemade bombs from suspected ISIS sympathizer, AW, who was arrested in Yogyakarta on Sunday, January 22.
“There are several pieces of (confiscated) evidence, including two finished homemade bombs and the materials,” spokesperson for Densus 88 Senior Commissioner Aswin Siregar said here on Monday.
He said the bombs became proof of AW’s intention to explode them in an act of terrorism.
Investigators are still probing further to figure out the location that the suspect would attack, he said.
“There is a target, but we are still figuring out (the targeted location),” Siregar said.
AW, 39, a suspect in terrorism acts, was arrested by a Densus team in the area around Pendowoharjo Street, Sleman District, Yogyakarta.
He is an ISIS sympathizer, who actively uploads ISIS propaganda pictures and videos on social media platforms as well as makes provocative calls to draw people into perpetrating terrorism, Siregar said.
“AW uses Facebook and Telegram (for his provocations),” he said.
Currently, investigators are still conducting extensive examinations of AW, he said.
According to Siregar, AW is known as a recidivist of drug crimes and has served time at the Nusakambangan Prison, Cilacap District, Central Java, and was released in 2020.
Investigators stated that AW joined the Anshor Daulah (AD) Group and was recruited as an ISIS sympathizer by one of the terrorist groups while serving time.
“It is possible that he is (a member of) Anshor Daulah, recruited by a network that was in the same cell as AW while at Nusakambangan Prison,” Siregar said.
National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has stated that in countering and preventing terrorism, the National Police adopted preventive measures, so that the suspects were arrested before putting the terrorism act into motion, thereby ensuring that the public feels safe.
In 2022, some 247 suspected terrorists were arrested, comprising 97 from the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group, 70 from the AD group, 46 from the Jamaah Anshorud Daulah (JAD) group, 20 from the Indonesian Islamic State (NII) group, four from the Mujahidin East Indonesia (MIT), a lone wolf suspect, and one foreign terrorist fighter.
Of those arrested suspects, 169 are currently in the investigation process, 56 people are at the prosecution stage, 17 people are at the trial stage, and four people died during prosecution.
Aside from that, one person died in a suicide bombing at the Astanaanyar Police Headquarters, Bandung City, West Java.
The National Police’s records showed that the number of terrorists successfully uncovered throughout 2022 had decreased by 123 people, or 33.2 percent, from 370 recorded in 2021.
The number of terror acts in 2022 decreased by five, or 83 percent, as compared to 2021.The only act of terrorism in that year was the bombing at the Astanaanyar Police Headquarters.
Source: antaranews
