Indonesia Police Arrest 'Terrorists' Planning U.S. Embassy Attack
Indonesian police arrested 11 suspected terrorists Saturday allegedly planning attacks on the U.S. embassy and an American consulate, a spokesman said.
"The group's objectives were to attack the U.S. embassy in Jakarta and consulate-general in the eastern Javanese city of Surabaya," national police spokesman Suhardi Alius told reporters.
Alius said the group was also targeting a building in the capital near the Australian embassy where U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan has an office.
"We also confiscated an explosive device from a home in the town of Madiun in eastern Java, as well as explosive materials and a bomb-making manual," Alius said.
Anti-terror police Detachment 88 made the arrests in four cities, including Jakarta, in a sweep on the island of Java, saying the detained belonged to a new network known as Hasmi.
Explosive materials were also secured from a location in Solo, central Java, and in Bogor on the outskirts of the capital.
Indonesia was rocked by a series of deadly attacks blamed on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) last decade, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
Indonesia has not seen a major attack since 2009 and authorities say a long crackdown on terrorism has debilitated JI.
But smaller terror cells aspiring to an Islamic caliphate through violent means have emerged, though none have carried out any serious attacks.
Source: Agence France Presse
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