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| Southeast Asia |
| JI behind Indonesian bank robberies |
| 2005-12-28 |
| Indonesian authorities said today that a recent spree of deadly, violent armed robberies in the country may have links with Islamic militants seeking money for terrorist operations. Gunmen last week made off with more than 130 million rupiah (about 541,000 baht) in one of five recent bank robberies in Jakarta. In one of the robberies they shot and killed a security guard and injured two bystanders. Nearly two weeks earlier, two people were shot dead in a gold shop robbery in Yogyakarta, 400 kilometres southeast of the capital. National police spokesman Inspector General Paulus Purwoko told reporters that the bullets used in a December 22 bank robbery were similar to those found with guns owned by Azahari bin Husin, one of Asia's most-wanted terrorists who was killed in a raid last month. "We have found the similarity between the gun used in the bank robbery and Azahari's. There are strong indication of links between recent robberies with the terrorist group," Paulus told reporters. Moslem militants robbed a jewelry shop in West Java province of Banten to help fund the October 2002 Bali blasts that left 202 people dead, mostly foreign visitors. Security authorities in the world's most populous Muslim nation have warned that Azahari's accomplice Noordin Mohammed Top and Jemaah Islamiyah's new recruits may try to carry out reprisal attacks to avenge Azahari's death. The head of the country's intelligence agency (BIN) has also recently warned that terrorist groups will change their targets from bombings in public areas to coordinated operations to kidnap ministers, government officials and foreign diplomats in the country. In response to the warnings, security authorities have been on high alert against possible militant attacks during Christmas and New Year celebrations, deploying 61,000 personnel throughout the archipelago. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also stepped up his personal security after intelligence reports that terrorists may try to assassinate him. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |