Police uncover terrorist training camp in jungle on Seram Island
Police uncover terrorist training camp in jungle on Seram Island
Chris Brummitt, Associated Press, Jakarta
Antiterror police discovered a recently abandoned jungle
training camp where militants taught bomb-making skills to scores
of extremists, security officials said on Wednesday, weeks after
suicide attackers launched fresh strikes on the tourist island of
Bali.
Instructors at the camp in Maluku province - the scene of
bloody fighting between Muslims and Christians from 1999 to 2002
- were graduates of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and
the Philippines, said Lt. Col. Leonidas Braksan, chief of Ambon
Police.
The isolated camp deep in the jungle had been running for
several years and was attended by militants from all over
Indonesia, he said, evidence that terrorists have been able to
maintain training networks despite a nationwide crackdown.
Police raided the camp on Seram Island earlier this month
after receiving information from recently arrested militants,
Leonidas said. Officers found several huts there, as well as
white flags used as markers for military exercises. Villagers
living nearby heard gunfire and occasional explosions from the
direction of the camp, he said.
"They were teaching war tactics, including using weapons and
making bombs," Leonidas said, citing testimony from captured
graduates of the camp. "The place was very isolated and difficult
to get to."
There were no indications that camp graduates were among those
who planned or carried out the Oct. 1 bombings on three crowded
restaurants on Bali island that killed 23 people, including three
attackers, he said.
Religious fighting on Maluku and nearby Sulawesi Island drew
militants from all over Indonesia between 1999 and 2002, many of
whom went on to take part in terror attacks elsewhere in the
country.
Foreign terrorists looking for another venue after the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan traveled to the region and funded and
taught at other camps, security officials say.
Maj. Gen. Ansjaad Mbai, head of the antiterror desk at the
Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and
Security Affairs, said the region continues to be an important
recruiting ground for Indonesian militant groups.
"They can use their experience straight away," he said, noting
that militants have in recent years continued to launch sporadic
attacks on Christians and security forces in Maluku and Sulawesi.
"Something like on-the-job training."
Ansjaad said a militant wanted in connection with the slaying
of five paramilitary police officers in Maluku in May was
suspected of running the jungle camp in Seram.
He said that it was likely there were other camps in the
region, although he stressed they may not be permanent
settlements.
"Don't imagine they are well equipped or made of concrete," he
said. "All they need is a remote area that people rarely visit."