Counter Terrorism
Detachment 88 is the Indonesian counter-terrorism squad, and part of the Indonesian National Police. Formed after the 2002 Bali bombing, the unit has had considerable success against the jihadi terrorist cells linked to Central Java-based Islamist movement Jemaah Islamiah.
Within the next three months after the 2002 Bali bombing, various militants, including the attack's mastermind Imam Samudra, the notorious 'smiling-bomber' Amrozi, and many others were apprehended. Samudra, Amrozi, and Amrozi's brother Ali Ghufron were executed by firing squad on November 9, 2008.
On November 10, 2005, bomb expert and senior player in Jemaah Islamiah, Malaysian Dr Azahari Husin, along with two other militants were killed in a raid of a house in Malang, East Java.
The police forces uncovered JI's new command structure in March 2007 and discovered a weapons depot in Java in May 2007. Abu Dujana, suspected leader of JI's military wing and its possible emir, was apprehended on June 9, 2007.
As of May 2008, Indonesian police have arrested 418 suspects, of which approximately 250 have been tried and convicted. According to sources within Detachment 88, the JI organisation has been "shrunk", and many of its top operatives have been arrested or killed.
On July 17, 2009, two blasts ripped two Jakarta hotels, JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, killing seven. It was the first serious attack for the country in the last five years. The police stated that it was committed by a splinter, yet more radical, group of JI, led by the man dubbed as the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia, Noordin Top. Top was killed in a raid two months later on September 17, 2009 in Solo, Central Java. All members of his cell were either killed or captured, including the recruiter and field coordinator of the attack, Ibrohim, killed on August 12, 2009, and the one said to be his successor, Syaifudin Zuhri, killed on October 9, 2009. After Top, many believed that terrorism in Indonesia had run out of charismatic leaders, and grew insignificant. According to South East Asian terrorism expert and director of South East Asia International Crisis Group, Sidney Jones, Top's death was "a huge blow for the extremist organizations in Indonesia and the region" .
On March 9, 2010, Dulmatin, a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia was killed in a police raid in Pamulang, Jakarta by Detachment 88.
Read more about this topic: Terrorism In Indonesia
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