Fifth terrorist training camp found in South Sulawesi

Fifth terrorist training camp found in South Sulawesi

Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

Police here said on Thursday they uncovered another military-
style training camp suspected to belong to the group of Agung
Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind of last month's bombing in
the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

The camp was found near the Towuti Lake area in Luwu regency,
some 500 kilometers from Makassar, which borders South Sulawesi
and the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.

South Sulawesi Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Achmad Abdi
told The Jakarta Post that the newly discovered camp was
allegedly used by the Makassar bombing suspects for training in
shooting and assembling bombs.

"The place around Towuti Lake is rather specific because there
are indications that it hosts shooting and bomb-making training,"
he said.

Achmad said at least three of the detained suspects, Muchtar
Daeng Lau, Ilham and Anton, had confessed they once held training
programs at the Towuti Lake camp.

The police had earlier found four similar camps across South
Sulawesi, which they also believe belonged to the Agung-led
bombers.

The four trainings camps were spotted in the regencies of
Enrekang, Palopo, Luwu and Bulukumba, some between 250 kilometers
and 500 kilometers from Makassar.

Achmad said the police believe the five camps, including the
Towuti Lake base, were connected. He did not give more details.

"The police are gathering data for further investigation into
those camps," he said.

Achmad said that based on confessions by the suspects, between
20 and 30 people used to take part in trainings in each camp.

Instructors for those camps were likely brought in from the
southern Philippines and Afghanistan, according to information
and statements from the suspects, he said on Monday.

However, he qualified his previous statement on Thursday
saying the police had not yet determined whether foreigners were
involved in training activities in the camps.

Achmad also said it was certain that six of the 18 suspects --
Muchtar, Usman, Masnur, Suryadi, Agung Hamid and Hisbullah Rasyid
-- had been trained in the southern Philippines.

"Suryadi even attended training programs there on five
different occasions," he added. One suspect, Muchtar, had once
trained in Pakistan, too, Achmad said.

The police have named 21 suspects in the Dec. 5 bombings that
killed three people and injured 11 others. Four of them -- Agung
Hamid, Hisbullah Rasyid, Dahlan and Mirzal -- remain at large,
however.

Key suspects in the Makassar attacks are alleged to have links
with the suspected Bali bombers, who killed more than 190 people,
mostly Westerners, last October.

Police have tied the Bali suspects with the regional Jamaah
Islamiyah militant group that has been blacklisted by the United
Nations.