Prior to the two incidents, the police had detected a growing number of militants linked to Jamaah Anshar Daulah (JAD), the nation's largest pro-IS group in the country, in the province.
he deadly terror attack on the Riau Police headquarters and the arrests of suspected terrorists at Riau University have fueled fears of terrorism in Riau, which may now have become the latest hot bed of Islamic State (IS) group-linked militants.
Uni Lies, a resident of Pekanbaru, the capital city of Riau, said she no longer felt safe when visiting crowded places, even though the authorities had tightened security.
“It is because the people who joined [the terrorist group] are fearless, they even attack the police headquarters.”
What worried her the most, she said, was the fact that those who planned to carry out terror attacks could not be easily recognized.
“The suspected terrorist at Riau University was a regular student — even the people who shared food and accommodation with him were not aware that he could make a bomb and intended to carry out a suicide bombing.”
Prior to the two incidents, the police had detected a growing number of militants linked to Jamaah Anshar Daulah (JAD), the nation's largest pro-IS group in the country, in the province.
On Oct. 24, 2017, for instance, the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism squad apprehended four people in three separate locations in the province, suspecting that they were planning attacks on police premises in the province. The police found indications the four men were linked to JAD.
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