Indonesian police foil alleged ISIS-linked terror cell planning New Year's Eve attack in West Java

JAKARTA - A group of militants killed and arrested by counter-terrorism forces on Christmas Day belonged to an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-linked terror cell and was planning to attack a police post in West Java on New Year's Eve, police said on Monday (Dec 26).

The operation came just days after three suspected militants said to be planning an attack on a police post in a satellite town of Jakarta on Christmas Eve were killed in a raid, highlighting the multiple security threats facing the country.

"Two of them would approach the targeted police post, hurt on-duty officers using a machete and knives, while the other two, on motorbikes, would monitor and be ready to rush to fetch their accomplices and flee the area after the attacks," police spokesman Rikwanto (who goes by one name) said of the latest raid at a media briefing on Monday.

Police had obtained the information from their interrogation of two of the militants, Abu Arham, 29, and Ivan Rahmat Syarif, 28. The duo were arrested by the anti-terrorism force Densus 88 at about 11.30am on Dec 25 near Jatiluhur Dam, about 70km east of Jakarta.

Jatiluhur Dam is a multi-purpose embankment dam on the Citarum river in West Java province. It is close to the mid-sized town of Purwakarta.

Two other militants, Abu Sovi alias Mas Brow and Abu Faiz, were killed while resisting arrest. One of them tried to attack the officers using his machete and the other unexpectedly rose from the water during a police search, before he was shot dead.

The two arrested alleged terrorists told the police in preliminary interrogations that they belonged to the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) cell.

The cell is led by jailed terrorist ideologue Aman Abdurrahman, who has pledged allegiance to ISIS.

The four suspected militants had previously rented rooms in the nearby town of Bandung but, feeling uneasy as neighbours appeared to grow increasingly suspicious of them, subsequently moved to a ramshackle house on Jatiluhur Dam.

Brigadier-General Rikwanto said the police found a number of mobile phone SIM cards, Internet modems, nails of various sizes, handwritten letters containing instructions from the cell leader Abu Fais and a weighing scale tool.

No explosive was found in their rented rooms, according to BG Rikwanto.

Police have been stepping up raids ahead of Christmas and New Year's Eve. As many as 155,000 police and military personnel have been deployed from Dec 23 until Jan 1 to protect churches and other places where people celebrate year-end festivities.

Last Wednesday, police killed three would-be militants in a raid outside Jakarta, foiling their plan to attack a police post in Serpong, South Tangerang, 25km outside Central Jakarta.

Police seized six packets, each containing about two bombs, from the house where the three alleged terrorists were shot dead and a fourth arrested.

The gang were linked to a terror cell in Solo, Central Java, whose plan to attack the presidential palace in Jakarta was foiled earlier this month.

Police last Wednesday also arrested three other terrorists in Deli Serdang (North Sumatra province), Payakumbuh (West Sumatra province), Batam (Riau Islands province).