JAKARTA - POLICE have linked the suicide bombers who attacked the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on Friday to the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network, confirming the attacks bore similarities to previous bombings by the group.

'They are from the same school because the method, the equipment used, is the same as both bombs in Bali and the one found in Cilacap,' national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna announced at a press conference on Sunday.

Material used to make bombs was recently found during a police raid on a house in Cilacap, Central Java.

Mr Nanan said he was not able to confirm the identity of the bombers as police were still conducting investigations, adding that they have 35 witnesses to interview.

Nine people, including the two bombers, were killed in the attacks, and more than 50 injured. Of the dead, four victims have so far been identified - three Australians and a New Zealander.

Police had said from the start that the identification process would take time, as the bodies were badly mutilated by the nail-packed bombs.

The bombs were similar to those used by one-time JI leader Noordin Mohammed Top and his associates.

Noordin, suspected of being the mastermind behind the nightclub bombings in Bali in 2002, now leads a splinter group of the terror network.

Terrorism expert Sidney Jones agreed that the attacks bore his hallmarks. She told Reuters: 'The most important hallmark is the suicide bombing as a method of attack, and also the targeting of iconic Western symbols - both of those are associated more with Noordin than with mainstream JI.'

Indonesian officials say they are working with the Malaysian authorities to hunt down Noordin, who has evaded arrest multiple times.

Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.