Singapore, Sep 6 (PTI) Indonesian police detained seven people in a failed plot to attack Pope Francis, who wrapped up the first leg of his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour from the archipelago on Friday.
The seven people were detained in the outlying cities of Bogor and Bekasi near Jakarta, said newspaper The Straits Times quoting a media statement by Indonesia’s national police anti-terrorism squad Detachment-88.
The investigations are still ongoing, and it has not yet been established whether the seven detainees know each other, or are members of the same terror cell, Detachment-88 spokesman Aswin Siregar said.
“We have a mechanism to monitor and filter. We had a tip-off about information from members of the public,” the Singapore daily quoted Aswin as saying.
The seven were mostly detained on Monday and Tuesday. Searches conducted in the house of one of the detainees said to be planning an attack on Pope Francis – who visited Jakarta from Tuesday till Friday – yielded bows and arrows, a drone, and ISIS leaflets, a source told The Straits Times. Some of those arrested had pledged allegiance to ISIS, Aswin added.
“One of the arrested is a militant who belongs to the same terror group that attacked Wiranto,” the source said, referring to Indonesia’s then Chief Security Minister – who goes by one name – who was stabbed by two ISIS-radicalised assailants in 2019 and underwent surgery after the attack.
He said the militants were angry about Francis’ visit to Jakarta’s Istiqlal mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, and upset about the government’s appeal to television stations to refrain from the usual broadcasting of azan (Islamic call to prayer) while a live broadcast of Pope Francis’ visit was in session.
Indonesia’s fight against terrorism has been going on for decades, marked by high-profile attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing – the largest terror attack the country has suffered – and the 2009 attacks on Jakarta hotels. PTI GS NPK NPK
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