Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Police’s Counterterrorism Squad, Densus 88, arrested 12 suspected terrorists in East Java on Friday, a police spokesperson said.
"During operations in East Java, the Densus 88 team arrested 12 suspected terrorists," chief of the public relations division at the National Police Headquarters, Inspector General Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono, said in Jakarta on Friday.
The 12 suspected terrorists were identified by their initials as UBS alias F, TS, AS, AIH alias AP, BR, RBM, Y, F, ME, AYR, RAS, and MI.
They are believed to have played different roles in the terrorism network, Yuwono said.
However, he refused to divulge the chronology of the arrest as the Densus 88 team is still on the field investigating the case.
Earlier in the day, chief of the public relations division of the East Java Provincial Police, Senior Commissioner Gatot Repli Handoko, had confirmed that Densus 88 had arrested a number of men suspected to have been involved in terrorist acts in Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Mojokerto, and Malang, East Java.
"It is true that Densus 88 at the National Police Headquarters has arrested several suspected terrorists in East Java, including Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Mojokerto, and Malang," he said.
Densus 88 has also arrested one more suspected terrorist, identified by his initials as AIH, from a house in Medokan Sawah No. 121, Rungkut, Surabaya.
During the search, the Densus 88 team also seized arrows, samurai, boxing, and taekwondo equipment as evidence.
It is still not clear whether the 12 suspected terrorists arrested on Friday had anything to do with those arrested earlier.
Densus 88 arrest 12 suspected terrorists in East Java
Chief of the public relations division at the National Police Headquarters, Inspector General Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono. (ANTARA/HO-Polri)
