Aceh militants’ ‘financier’ killed

Kiss asphalt: A bomb squad officer examines the body of a suspected terrorist shot dead in a raid in Gang Asem Valley in Pamulang, Tangerang, Banten province, on Tuesday. JP/J. Adiguna

The National Police shot dead three terror suspects in bloody raids Tuesday in two locations in Pamulang, Tangerang, Banten.

Police said one of the suspects, who was the main target, allegedly provided financial assistance
to militants who recently trained in Aceh.

The suspect was tailed by officers as he rode a motorcycle to a store on Jl. Siliwangi, Pamulang.
He was accompanied by a woman believed to be his wife.

They arrived at the store at 11:30 a.m. where the woman went to a beauty parlor while the suspect went to an Internet cafe. Both are located in the same building.

Ringga Riana, who runs the Internet café, said the suspect had been on the Internet café’s second floor for about five minutes before a group of plainclothes police officers entered the premises.
“I heard shots exchanged upstairs for five minutes,” she said.

Antara news agency reported that the suspect fired off a shot before police shot him dead. Police recovered a revolver with six bullets from his person.

Media identified the man as Joko Pitono, also known as Dulmatin, a key Jemaah Islamiah leader.
In a separate raid on Jl. Setiabudi, located 1 kilometer away from Jl. Siliwangi, police shot two suspects who tried to escape on a motorcycle from a house.

The two suspects were critically injured and died at Kramat Jati Hospital, East Jakarta.
A source identified the two dead suspects as Rikwan and Hasan Nur.

“They were shot because they tried to run from the police,” the source said.

Media reports said the house belonged to Fauzi, an area resident and a physician working at a hospital in Tangerang.

There were reports that all the suspects used the house as a base, while they used the Internet café to communicate.

Police also arrested two other suspects. Both surrendered without incident close to the house.
“The two are being held at the National Police detention center for further questioning,” the police official said.

He confirmed all the dead suspects were male, but declined to confirm that the first suspect was Dulmatin, saying police would announce their findings following further DNA tests.

“We have at least another one or two days before we can come to any conclusion,” he said.

Prior to Tuesday’s raids, police had detained 16 suspects believed to be members of a terrorist cell in Aceh.

Three other members were killed in police raids that started on Feb. 23, 2010.

On Monday, police in West Java and Jakarta arrested two more suspects who allegedly provided weapons to the militants in Aceh.

Dulmatin received intensive military training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. He also went by the names of Joko Pitoyo, Muktamar, Pitono and Noval.

He was believed to be groomed by the late Dr. Azahari, an electronics expert.

He was allegedly one of the masterminds behind the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia which killed 202 people, including seven US citizens and 88 Australians.

Dulmatin joined the Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Philippines in 2003 and was involved in providing expertise and training other militants.

Hundreds of people flock to the site of Tuesday’s raids.

Residents and motorists eager for a glimpse into the store were held back by security officers guarding the premises.

“I received a text message from a friend telling that there was a shoot-out between the police and terrorists here.

“I was curious and that’s why I am here,” Imam Fauzi, one of the many onlookers, said.
Andri, a parking attendant at the center said that he saw officers arriving in several cars.

“I heard several shots inside the Internet café,” he said.