Indonesian police arrest six suspected terrorists

JAKARTA (Xinhua): Indonesia's counterterrorism squad, known as Densus 88, has arrested six people on suspicion of terrorism activities in four separate operations, the unit's spokesperson said on Wednesday (Feb 8).

Aswin Siregar of the Densus 88 told local media that all suspects had alleged ties with the homegrown extremist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is linked to the Islamic State.

The JI was behind the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200 people on the archipelago's resort island of Bali.

Siregar said that the operation began in the city of Palembang in South Sumatra on Tuesday morning where members of the squad detained the first suspect identified with the initial J.

Meanwhile, three others IR, LS and AF were arrested early Wednesday in the neighboring province of Lampung.

"A few hours later, Densus 88 detained AT and A separately in the city of Cirebon in West Java and Jakarta," he said.

AT was a fugitive and other suspects were allegedly trying to help him escape from the police search, Siregar added.