10 December 2016•Update: 10 December 2016
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia
Police have arrested three suspected Daesh-linked militants for planning weekend bomb attacks on Indonesia's presidential palace.
Metrotvnews.com reported National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar as saying that the two men and a woman were arrested in a house in West Bekasi, West Java on Saturday afternoon.
He added that on searching the building, police found three high explosive bombs in a bag.
Jakarta Police spokesman Commissioner Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono said in a statement that the trio planned to detonate the bomb Sunday morning.
"Their plan is that bomb will be detonated at the presidential palace," kompas.com quoted him as saying.
Authorities believe all three are members of the Jamaah Anshar Khilafah Daulah Nusantara (JAKDN) network led by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian fighting with Daesh in Syria who authorities believe masterminded a fatal attack in Jakarta in January.
Police are continuing to question all three suspects.
Indonesia has been on alert against extremist activities over the past year, further heightening security measures after the January attack left eight people -- including four Daesh-linked suspects -- dead in the capital.
In 2002, Bali witnessed a series of bombings that killed 202 people -- mostly Australians -- in an attack blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaeda’s Southeast Asia affiliate.
In late November, police arrested a bomb-maker on charges of planning bomb attacks on government buildings and the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta.
The man is also suspected of being a member of JAKDN.
The alleged plot to attack the embassy came after thousands of people joined demonstrations in front of the mission to protest violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State.
