Indonesia remains on alert day after attack killed 7

By Ainur Rohmah

JAKARTA

Indonesia remains on high alert following an attack by a Daesh-linked group in the capital's Sarinah mall complex that left seven people dead, five of them the attackers.

The head of Jakarta police, Tito Karnavian, told reporters Friday that security had been heightened at prominent places, such as foreign embassies, airports, police stations and border areas.

"We have identified where the group came from, and half of their identities are now known," Antara News quoted him as saying.



He added that police are in pursuit of other members of the group which they believe to be linked to Daesh in Syria.

On Thursday, the five men -- one of them reported to be carrying a black Daesh flag -- attacked a Starbucks cafe and police traffic booth with hand-made bombs, guns and suicide vests, killing two people -- an Indonesian and a Canadian national.

Another 20 people were injured, some of them reported to remain in critical condition.

On Friday, officers from the police’s counterterrorism squad said they had arrested three more alleged terrorists believed to be connected to the incident in the Jakarta suburb of Cipayung.

Kompas.com. reported Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti as saying that police believed others from a Daesh-linked group had helped out.



"Surely, there were [more] people behind the attack. Who bought [the explosive materials]? Who assembled [the devices]? Who facilitated the attack? All of them are suspects, aren’t they?" said Haiti.

Karnavian has said the attackers were part of a group led by Bahrum Naim, an Indonesian militant who is now reported to be in Syria.

On Friday, the Indonesian Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center said it had uncovered a flow of funds from the Middle East to Indonesia which it alleged had been utilized to finance acts of terror.



Kompas.com reported Haiti as claiming that the money was sent by attack mastermind Naim to two people in Central Java in November 2015, but he refused to divulge their names.

Karnavian earlier claimed that Bahrun organized the blast as he is competing with a militant from the Philippines south to become a leader of Daesh in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines South is home to Abu Sayyaf, and other Daesh-linked groups.

"We have known his [Naim's] group for some time and we are pursuing them," he added.

In November 2010, Naim was sentenced him to 2-1/2 years prison in Indonesia on charges of storing illegal weapons and explosives, but on release he is reported to have travelled to Syria to join Daesh.

Police have said they suspect he is currently in Raqqah in Syria's south.

Karnavian said Naim also has influence in radical groups located in Java and Sulawesi, including the Indonesian East Mujahideen, reported to be led by the country's most wanted terrorist, Abu Wardah Santoso.

On Wednesday -- the day before the attack -- 2,000 Indonesian security personnel were deployed to the mountainous forests of Sulawesi in the latest operation aimed at capturing Santoso.

Kompas.com reported Poso's police office as confirming that a gunfight had broken out with Santoso's group early Friday in which one of the militants had been killed

"This morning, a gunfight occurred that lasted more than two hours. We are continuing to pursue the terrorist group that went into the jungle," said police chief Ronny Suseno.