F

ive suspected terrorists were reportedly killed during police raids at two different sites late Sunday.

Police have yet to issue an official statement on the nature of the raids and details on the casualties.

The first raid took place at around 10:15 p.m. in a budget hotel, Laksmi, on Jl. Danau Poso 99X, Sanur. The area is known as one of the most famous red-light districts in Bali, where people can easily obtain a cheap room from staff at budget hotels who rarely ask for valid identification from their guests.

Neighbors said that they heard a burst of gunfire at around that time.

“Three were killed here and another two in Soputan,” Bali Legislative Council member I Made Arjaya, who lives 30 meters away from the site of the first raid, told The Jakarta Post.

Soputan is a street in a densely-populated area in west Denpasar.

A police source at the scene confirmed members of the group were believed to have been raising funds for terrorism via armed robberies.

“The five people are part of the group that masterminded the 2010 CIMB Niaga bank robbery in Medan [North Sumatra]. We have tailed them for months before we made the raids,” the field operative, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

Police had confiscated firearms, he said, and some intelligence reports suggested that the group intended to plan robberies in order to generate money for future terrorist activities.

The police source refused to reveal further information as it could disrupt police investigations.

Arjaya said that three suspected terrorists had rented a room in the budget hotel. Officers from the police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism unit stormed the room and shot the suspects dead.

“They rented a room in this area probably because it is very easy to blend in here. Little did they know that the police had tailed them for several days,” he said, adding that local leaders had been notified by police to increase their alertness prior to the raid.

Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Hariadi denied that the suspects were terrorists, describing them instead as professional robbers plotting to commit a heist. He said the suspects had been carrying firearms at the time of the raids.

Earlier, Hariadi denied that there were six alleged terrorists who entered the island last month. Hariadi insisted that tighter security checks were aimed at reducing crime rates.

Dicky Christanto contri-buted to this story from Jakarta.