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Ba’asyir link to Bali terror suspects

Shot men 'were members of group founded by jailed Muslim cleric'
Ba’asyir link to Bali terror suspects
Published: March 20, 2012 09:22 AM GMT
Updated: March 20, 2012 09:22 AM GMT

The head of the national counter-terrorism agency said yesterday that five terror suspects shot dead during raids in Bali on Sunday were linked to a group founded by jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. Ansyaad Mbai says the dead men were members of the Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) group founded in 2008 by Ba’asyir, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison last month for planning, helping and financing a terrorist training camp in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province. The United States also officially labeled the JAT a foreign terrorist organization last month, linking it to several attacks in Indonesia. Mbai said there are five groups in Indonesia that are currently capable of carrying out terror attacks, namely Jamaah Islamiyah, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid, the Indonesian Islamic State and Tauhid Waljihad. All have links with each other, he said. "They are the same people, the same leaders,” he said. The five killed on Sunday were also thought to be involved in armed robberies in Medan and North Sumatra, and in several bombings in Surakarta, Central Java, he said, adding they were planning to launch an attack in Bali and other areas in Indonesia. Police have refused to reveal the identities of the dead, but say three of them were from Bandung in West Java, one was from Makassar in South Sulawesi and one was from Bali.

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