Police across country on high alert for possible GAM attacks<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police forces across the country, especially in Sumatra and
\nJava, have heightened security measures to safeguard their
\nrespective territories from possible attacks from the Free Aceh
\nMovement (GAM) rebels.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said on
\nTuesday that the police were put on a state of high alert ahead
\nof the military operation in Aceh, to anticipate possible attacks
\ntargeting vital areas in the city.<\/p>\n
\"But, the status (of high alert) is only for the police, not
\nfor Jakartans in anticipation of the heightened security
\nsituation in the capital,\" he said, adding that residents should
\nincrease their alertness in their neighborhoods amid mounting
\nsecurity concerns.<\/p>\n
Makbul also said that the police would beef up security in all
\nvital places in the city.<\/p>\n
The police chief made the decision following a statement by
\nNational Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, who revealed that GAM
\nwould likely engage in a series of terror acts in several areas
\noutside Aceh, including Jakarta.<\/p>\n
GAM would likely target public places and vital facilities in
\nJakarta, North Sumatra capital of Medan and Lampung, Da'i said.<\/p>\n
The police earlier reported that the arrested GAM commander
\noverseeing the Medan-Deli areas in North Sumatra, Abdul Wahab,
\nhad warned that GAM had 40 men who were \"ready to spread acts of
\nterror.\"<\/p>\n
Abdul Wahab's deputy, Tengku Yahya bin Hanafiah, told The
\nJakarta Post that some 30,000 GAM members had entered the North
\nSumatra capital of Medan and were ready to attack, pending orders
\nfrom the GAM commander in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Tengku Yahya, who was arrested by the police last week, said
\nthat about 600 of the secessionist rebels had undergone military
\ntraining in Libya.<\/p>\n
\"They've been sworn in by the (GAM) leadership in Aceh, (and
\nare) ready to make a move in Medan if they've been ordered to go
\nto war,\" claimed Yahya, who admitted that he had also been
\ninvolved in a series of bombings in Medan.<\/p>\n
He said on Monday that GAM could develop its cell in Medan
\nquickly, because they recruited members in the same way as a
\nmulti-level marketing company.<\/p>\n
\"There were only 600 GAM members in Medan, but their number is
\nincreasing, because each one of the 600 recruited 50 people. They
\nlive somewhere outside of Medan now, but I don't know their
\nlocation,\" he said, saying that the members assimilated
\nthemselves into the local community.<\/p>\n
Medan Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan doubted the
\nfigure, saying that it was excessive. However, he acknowledged
\nthat some GAM members had spread to the nearby Langkat and Asahan
\nregencies.<\/p>\n
Bagus said the police were currently on high alert, with
\nthousands of officers deployed to guard a number of vital targets
\nin Medan.<\/p>\n
\"We are providing extra-tight security to prevent the
\nseparatist from disrupting Medan's security,\" Bagus said.<\/p>\n
On Monday, North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin ordered his
\nsubordinates to screen refugees coming from Aceh to prevent
\npossible infiltration by GAM. Local administrations were also
\ntold to record and monitor new residents from Aceh in their
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Security officers would give Acehnese refugees separate tags
\nor other means of identification in an attempt to monitor their
\nmovements.<\/p>\n
In Riau, the police have set up a special team to monitor the
\nentry points to the province in a bid to anticipate the wave of
\nAcehnese refugees to the province.<\/p>\n
\"The operations aims at monitoring GAM leaders and to
\ndiscourage them from infiltrating Riau,\" said Riau Police Chief
\nBrig. Gen. Deddy Komaruddin.<\/p>\n
The police would also launch \"sweeping\" operations against
\nsuspicious trucks and public buses that enter or leave Riau, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
\"The sweeping is to anticipate crimes like robberies and drug
\ndealing that might be used to finance GAM operations,\" Deddy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Separately in Jakarta, National Police Chief of Detectives
\nComr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng told reporters on Monday that the
\npolice had arrested nine more alleged GAM members in neighboring
\nBengkulu over the weekend, following Yahya's arrest.<\/p>\n
Erwin identified six of the nine as Darwin, Zulkifli bin
\nAlamsyah, Edi Junaidi bin Alamsyah, Mansyur bin Wahid, Asri M.
\nSaleh and Muhi bin Jamil.<\/p>\n
\"They are involved in selling drugs and other crimes allegedly
\ncommitted for GAM's interests,\" he told reporters at the National
\nPolice headquarters.<\/p>\n
The remaining three are allegedly high-ranking officials of
\nGAM, and have been identified as M. Jamil bin Abdul Rahman, Said
\nUmar bin Saidsyah and A.N. Nasru, alias Ayah Kumis.<\/p>\n
Erwin claimed that Jamil was the GAM advisor for Bengkulu,
\nwhile Said was the GAM treasurer of Bengkulu. Erwin did not
\nmention the role of Ayah Kumis.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-across-country-on-high-alert-for-possible-gam-attacks-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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