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By APD Writer Maverick
JAKARTA, Aug. 16 (APD) – Indonesian police found new concerning facts on possible terrorists’ attacks using chemical bombs after they dismantled a terrorist group in West Java province capital of Bandung plotting series of attacks in several state objects, including the presidential palace later this month.
The terrorists were arrested in different locations in Bandung by national police’s anti-terror squad of Densus 88 on Tuesday along with chemical substances planned to be assembled into bombs.
The hazardous chemicals were stashed in a house rented by part of them in Bandung down town area of Antapani.
West Java Provincial Police Headquarters Spokesperson Yusri Yunus said the finding was worrisome as it was far more devastating and harmful compared to bombs used in previous attacks in the country called pressure cooker bombs.
Yusri said impacts of the chemical bombs assembled by the terrorists may harm people who inhale the air around the explosions, irritate their skins that may take very long time for recovery.
Besides that, the bombs assembled by the ones arrested in Antapani can be remotely detonated by the perpetrators.
“The bombs would be detonated with remote controls,” Yusri added.
Cited to information extracted from them during the preliminary interrogation, they planned to carry out the attacks after this month, targeting presidential palace, police on duties and police’s mobile brigade headquarters in Jakarta and Bandung.
The arrested terrorists went by alias names of Y, AK, AR, SH and R, aged between 20 to 30 years old.
AK and AR were husband and wife who had repatriated from Hong Kong by local authorities over radical teaching violations.
The arrested terrorists were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a radical group which has stated their allegiance to terrorist organization of Islamic State (IS), according to Yusri.
The police spokesperson said they made active communications with Bahrun Naim, Indonesian IS militant joined IS executive board in Syria through the internet.
Bandung saw intense terror activities in recent times. An assembled bomb was accidentally exploded in a dormitory room rented by an IS-afiliated terrorist in down town area of Buah Batu earlier last month.
The bombs were planned to be detonated in churches and restaurants in the city.
Another attack with pressure cooker bomb took place in Bandung’s Cicendo district in February this year. The bomb exploded near a village office in the district, perpetrated by two terrorists, who were the members of JAD.
Police killed one of the terrorists who refused to surrender in the scene. The other one managed to flee from the location.
One of the suicidal bombers detonated pressure cooker bombs in Kampung Melayu bus terminal in East Jakarta on May 25 was from Bandung, recruited by JAD. The bombing in the bus terminal occurred in the wake of IS militants’ attacks in the Philippines city of Marawi on May 23.
The attacks in the bus terminal killed 3 police and 2 from the perpetrators.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
