Indonesian officers from the Detachment 88 anti-terror squad, which Australia helped set up after the Bali bombings, killed one terror suspect and injured another during the ambush on a Yogyakarta street last night. The men are believed to be members of the network of prime terror suspect Abu Dujanah, wanted for helping protect Noordin Top - Indonesia's most wanted terrorist. Noordin Top is blamed for sourcing the bombers and materials used in both the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings.
It was unclear whether Abu Dujanah, also known as Ainul Bahri, was among those involved in the shootout in front of a shop in the Depok sub-district of Yogyakarta, about 7pm (11pm AEDT) yesterday. Indonesia's Metro TV reported Abu Dujanah, from west Java, was one of six people arrested, but Inspector General Bekto Suprapto, the head of the police's anti-terror unit, said this evening that he was not among those arrested, killed or wounded. "This is Abu Dujanah's network," police chief spokesman Sisno Adiwinoto said earlier. "There are some suspects, but they are Dujanah's network. The Detachment 88 is still chasing the rest of the group."
Members of the Detachment 88 squad are combing the crime scene, along with officers from the bomb squad, mobile police brigade and Yogyakarta forensic police. Mr Adiwinoto said two empty bullet casings were recovered from the scene. He said two suspects were shot, one fatally. "The rest were taken by Detachment 88 to chase the others," he said.
Indonesian newspaper Indo Pos said police also seized three motorbikes. One witness, a mobile phone voucher salesman Asnawiyah, said he heard two shots yesterday evening. "It was very fast," he told Indo Pos. "At that time I heard two shots, one got hit."
The ambush followed the posting of a bomb threat on Yogyakarta's provincial government website yesterday afternoon. "This is a serious warning," the anonymous message said. "We will bomb places like discos ... just wait for D-day and never go to those places if you want to be safe." However, provincial chief police Hari Anwar denied any link between the ambush and the threat.
I like 'Detachment 88'. It has a nice Orwellian ring to it.