Ansor appreciates police for foiling plot to bomb State Palace

Jakarta, NU Online
The Central Board of Ansor Youth Movement appreciated the success of  Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism unit Detachment 88 for foiled a plot to bomb the State Palace and arresting suspects in Bekasi.

"We are grateful that our country is safe, but at the same time in other countries such as Turkey and Egypt there were bombing attacks making people lost their lives," the chairman of Ansor, H. Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, popularly known as Gus Yakut, said.

In a press release on Monday (12/12), Ansor condemned acts of terrorism anywhere and therefore terrorism is essentially not part of religion.

"Islam is a religion of peace. Terrorism is not recognized in Islam. Good Muslims are those making make people around them feel safe and secure," Gus Yaqut said.

On the very day that is celebrated as the birthday of Prophet Muhammad SAW (Maulid Nabi), Ansor called on Muslims and other religious communities to preserve moderate and tolerant religious views.

"We must invite people to stay away from extreme acts in religion," Gus Yaqut said.

The police said that a group of people arrested in Bekasi, West Java, for allegedly plotting a bomb attack on the State Palace was part of a terrorist network controlled by a terrorist convict who allegedly masterminded a deadly terrorist attack in Central Jakarta earlier this year.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiyono said the police had uncovered links between the three people who were arrested on Saturday and Muhammad Bahrun Naim Anggih Tamtomo, aka Bahrun Naim, a leader of the Katibah Nusantara militant group, a regional affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) movement.

"Those arrested [in Bekasi] are part of Bahrun Naim’s IS-affiliated network," Awi said on Saturday, adding that the police had conducted a surveillance operation before finally arresting them on Saturday. (Mahbib/Masdar)