BEKASI: Two would-be suicide bombers who were planning a truck-bomb attack on a house belonging to the Indonesian president were killed during a
police raid early on Saturday, police
said.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the men were shot dead as they were about to detonate pipe-bombs during the raid, which uncovered a vast cache of explosive material and a small truck rigged to explode.
He said the house in Bekasi, outside Jakarta, was being used as a base by a "cell of NMT," referring to alleged terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, who is wanted for multiple suicide bombings in Indonesia.
An accomplice of the men had told police they were planning to detonate the truck-bomb at the house in about two weeks' time, which would roughly coincide with the August 17 anniversary of Indonesian independence.
Their rented house was about a 12-minute drive away from a residential property belonging to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Danuri said.
"Our president was a target," he told reporters, identifying the suspects as Ari Setiawan and Eko Gepeng.
"They were would-be bridegrooms (suicide bombers) with special targets for attacks to be carried out two weeks from now... This place was a cell of NMT."
Danuri said the Bekasi raid was linked to a police assault on a suspected Noordin hideout in Central Java, also on Saturday.
Police have not confirmed local media reports that Noordin was killed in that operation, saying they have to wait for DNA tests on the body of a man killed at the remote farm-house.
Asked earlier whether Noordin was inside the house in Beji village, the police chief said only: "God willing".
Noordin is suspected of masterminding the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta as well as suicide blasts at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003, Bali tourist restaurants in 2005 and the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on July 17.
Danuri said the two suicide bombers in the July 17 attacks, which killed seven people including six foreigners, had been identified last week.
He gave their names as Nana and Dani, but provided no further details about their identities or possible connection to Noordin, a Malaysian Islamist who leads a splinter group of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network.
Three other men had also been arrested in relation to last month's hotel attacks, including one named Amir Abdillah who allegedly booked the Marriott hotel room used by the bombers in the days before the attacks.
It was not clear when these three men had been arrested, but they were part of a series of related operations aimed at disrupting Noordin's network and capturing the 40-year-old Malaysian.
The would-be bombers killed Saturday at the house in Bekasi had been Noordin's "accomplices" in the 2004 Australian embassy car-bombing, which killed 10 people and wounded scores more, the police chief said.
The house had been booby-trapped and inside police found hundreds of kilogrammes of explosive material and equipment used for bomb-making.
"There was also a vehicle that had been prepared as a mobile bomb to be used in the next two weeks," Danuri said.
Jakarta police chief Wahyono said the suspects had been under surveillance for 10 days as part of the investigation into the July hotel attacks.
"We sniffed out the house, which was used to make bombs, 10 days ago," he said.
"We suspected that the house was a safe house for the NMT network, especially to build bombs and to prepare the vehicle," he added.
said.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the men were shot dead as they were about to detonate pipe-bombs during the raid, which uncovered a vast cache of explosive material and a small truck rigged to explode.
He said the house in Bekasi, outside Jakarta, was being used as a base by a "cell of NMT," referring to alleged terror mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top, who is wanted for multiple suicide bombings in Indonesia.
An accomplice of the men had told police they were planning to detonate the truck-bomb at the house in about two weeks' time, which would roughly coincide with the August 17 anniversary of Indonesian independence.
Their rented house was about a 12-minute drive away from a residential property belonging to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Danuri said.
"Our president was a target," he told reporters, identifying the suspects as Ari Setiawan and Eko Gepeng.
"They were would-be bridegrooms (suicide bombers) with special targets for attacks to be carried out two weeks from now... This place was a cell of NMT."
Danuri said the Bekasi raid was linked to a police assault on a suspected Noordin hideout in Central Java, also on Saturday.
Police have not confirmed local media reports that Noordin was killed in that operation, saying they have to wait for DNA tests on the body of a man killed at the remote farm-house.
Asked earlier whether Noordin was inside the house in Beji village, the police chief said only: "God willing".
Noordin is suspected of masterminding the 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta as well as suicide blasts at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003, Bali tourist restaurants in 2005 and the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta on July 17.
Danuri said the two suicide bombers in the July 17 attacks, which killed seven people including six foreigners, had been identified last week.
He gave their names as Nana and Dani, but provided no further details about their identities or possible connection to Noordin, a Malaysian Islamist who leads a splinter group of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network.
Three other men had also been arrested in relation to last month's hotel attacks, including one named Amir Abdillah who allegedly booked the Marriott hotel room used by the bombers in the days before the attacks.
It was not clear when these three men had been arrested, but they were part of a series of related operations aimed at disrupting Noordin's network and capturing the 40-year-old Malaysian.
The would-be bombers killed Saturday at the house in Bekasi had been Noordin's "accomplices" in the 2004 Australian embassy car-bombing, which killed 10 people and wounded scores more, the police chief said.
The house had been booby-trapped and inside police found hundreds of kilogrammes of explosive material and equipment used for bomb-making.
"There was also a vehicle that had been prepared as a mobile bomb to be used in the next two weeks," Danuri said.
Jakarta police chief Wahyono said the suspects had been under surveillance for 10 days as part of the investigation into the July hotel attacks.
"We sniffed out the house, which was used to make bombs, 10 days ago," he said.
"We suspected that the house was a safe house for the NMT network, especially to build bombs and to prepare the vehicle," he added.
