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Another Indonesian terror suspect nabbed in Malaysia
Malaysian Police have arrested another Indonesian, identified as Fatir Tir, 34, in connection with a recently foiled terror plot
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Malaysian Police have arrested another Indonesian, identified as Fatir Tir, 34, in connection with a recently foiled terror plot.
Police nabbed the former fugitive, who is also known as Nuruddin Alele, in Selangor on Tuesday. Two Malaysians — Muhammad Syazani Mahzan and Muhamad Nuurul Amin Azizan — were arrested on the same day in the state of Kedah in northern Malaysia.
“[The three arrestees] are suspected of supporting the Islamic State [terrorist group] and planning attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia,” Abdul Hamid Bador, the Malaysian police’s inspector-general, said in a statement on Instagram on Thursday evening.
Abdul Hamid alleged that Fatir had been involved in planning attacks on houses of worship and entertainment centers in Klang Valley, Selangor.
“The suspect was exposed to the Islamic State ideology during a five-year prison term in Surabaya [East Java, Indonesia],” he said, without revealing when and why Fatir had been imprisoned in Surabaya.
Police also said that, like Fatir, Muhammad Syazani and Muhamad Nuurul had been exposed to radical ideology in Indonesia.
Both Muhammad Syazani and Muhamad Nuurul learned how to make bombs in Yogyakarta last year and scouted several churches in the city as potential targets, according to the police.
Thursday’s arrests come less than two weeks after Malaysian authorities detained four suspected terrorists from the same “wolf pack” cell — including an Indonesian national — in a series of raids in Selangor.
The four, arrested between May 5 and 7, are an Indonesian, a 34-year old Malaysian and two Rohingya Muslims. They are suspected of having plotted a series of attacks in and around Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur during Ramadan, in retaliation for the death of Muslim fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim during an alleged racially charged riot at a Hindu temple last November.
The fireman’s death angered majority Malay Muslims, some of whom had accused Hindu leaders of inciting the riot through racial remarks. There is an ongoing inquest into his death, The Star reported.
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that an Indonesian man is among those arrested by Malaysian authorities between May 5 and 7.
However, it has yet to confirm whether Fatir is an Indonesian national.
“We have yet to get any official notification from Malaysian authorities on the second Indonesian arrested, but we are aware of the issue after we learned it from media reports,” spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Friday.
Arrmanatha said the ministry was currently requesting consular access to verify Fatir’s identity.
Following the latest arrests, Abdul Hamid led a Malaysian Police delegation to meet National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian in Jakarta on Friday to convey information about the arrests and discuss bilateral cooperation on counterterrorism measures.
“The Malaysian Police initiated the visit to the National Police — during which we agreed to share intelligence,” National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
