JAKARTA - INDONESIAN police on Friday announced the capture of one of the country's most wanted terrorists, a man described as a battle-hardened strategist and an experienced military trainer.
Abu Tholut, 39, did not resist arrest when Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad Detachment 88 raided a house in Kudus, Central Java, on Friday. A firearm with eight bullets, and several more rounds wrapped in plastic, were found on him.
Tholut fought alongside the mujahideen or Islamic warriors in Afghanistan in the 1980s and became a leading figure in the now-splintered Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network when he returned home. He reportedly sent Islamic fighters to wage war against Christians in Poso in Central Sulawesi in the late 1990s and also trained Islamic separatist fighters in the Philippine island of Mindanao.
Indonesian police have accused him of playing a key role in the setting up of a terrorist training camp in Aceh, which they broke up earlier in February. A series of violent armed robberies and an attack on police officers in and around the city of Medan have also been linked to him.
On Friday, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar refused to reveal much about ongoing investigations beyond confirming Tholut's arrest.
'Our team is continuing to pursue other suspects... I cannot give you many details. The officers are still working in the field,' he told reporters.
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