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Police kill four suspects in North Sumatra gunfight
Four suspected terrorists were killed and another two were detained in a firefight with a police unit at a village in Deli Serdang regency on Saturday
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our suspected terrorists were killed and another two were detained in a firefight with a police unit at a village in Deli Serdang regency on Saturday.
An officer with the police’s Mobile Brigade Unit was injured in the one-hour-long battle.
Three of the slain were identified as Taufik Hidayat, Zulkarnaen and Ojin. The identity of the fourth was not known.
The four bodies and the two injured suspects were taken to Bhayangkara Hospital in Medan.
North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno said Taufik Hidayat had been on the police’s most-wanted list for his role in the recent fatal CIMB Niaga bank heist and
the Hamparan Perak police station ambush.
The police confiscated a Type 56 assault rifle with four magazines, an FN gun and an M-16 rifle belonging to the late chief Brig. Immanuel Simanjuntak, who was shot dead during the CIMB Niaga bank robbery in August.
The police conducted extensive searches for the armed group following the robbery.
Oegroseno said it was likely the M-16 assault rifle had been used in the Hamparan Perak attack on Sept. 22, which killed three officers.
“We are still searching for at least nine other members of the group. We suspect they are at large near here,” he told The Jakarta Post, after leading a police raid in Dolok Sagala village, Dolok Masihul district.
The ambush came after a tip from local residents that a group of armed men had been seen buying sandals and bread at 8 a.m.
North Sumatra Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Syafruddin said the firefight had lasted an hour.
“He is still conscious and is in the care of a medical team,” he said referring to chief Brig. Sugeng, who was injured in the incident.
This was the third time in a week that the police have been involved in a firefight with the armed group.
On Thursday, a firefight broke out at Tebing Tinggi, followed by another in Serdang Bedagai on Friday morning. Three members of the armed group were reported injured in the engagement, but all escaped.
National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the armed group that made away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in the CIMB Niaga heist was linked to Islamic movement Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), chaired by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. JAT is said to have links with world terror network al-Qaeda.
