Nineteen of those arrested were from the Jemaah Islamiah (JI)
network, which has ties to al Qaeda, while 40 suspects were from
JAD, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS).
Aswin Siregar, spokesperson for the Densus 88 counter-terrorism
taskforce, said the JAD militants were suspected of plotting
attacks to disrupt Feb. 14 presidential and legislative
elections.
"For them, elections are immoral and against Islamic law," Aswin
told a press conference.
"They plan to attack police facilities. It relates to their main
goal which is to cancel the election," he added without giving
any more detail of the suspected plotting.
The suspects were detained in operations from Oct. 2 to Oct. 28
and police also confiscated some guns and chemicals to make
bombs, Aswin said.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country and it saw
a string of Islamist attacks in the years after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on the United States including bombings on the
holiday island of Bali in 2002 that killed more than 200 people,
many of them Australian tourists.
The Bali bombings were believed to have been orchestrated by JI.
However, security analysts say the militant threat has
diminished significantly in recent years, largely because of
successful security force operations.
Aswin also warned that pro-Palestinian protests and fund-raising
since the recent violence in the Middle East could incite anger
and provoke militant attacks.
"These raise passions to commit terrorist acts," he said.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; editing by Robert Birsel)
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