Sunday August 9, 2009
‘Safe house’ turns into a war zone
BEJI (Indonesia): A tense overnight standoff between suspected Islamist militants and Indonesia’s elite counter-terrorism forces ended in scenes worthy of a Hollywood action movie.
More than 17 hours after it began on Friday afternoon, the siege reached its bloody climax when heavily armed policemen wearing ski masks stormed the remote farmhouse in Central Java.
Their target was one of Asia’s most wanted men, Malaysian Noordin Mat Top, who is accused of launching the bloodiest suicide attacks in Indonesia since the 2002 Bali bombings.
Curious onlookers: Residents viewing the bullet-riddled farmhouse in Central Java . But there would be no clean-cut ending to the drama, as authorities refused to confirm media reports that Noordin had been killed in the storm of police gunfire and explosions that preceded their final assault.
If the reports are true, the raid marks the final act of the biggest manhunt in Indonesian history and will be a major blow to Islamist extremist networks seeking to unite half of South-East Asia under an Islamic caliphate.
An AFP reporter at the scene described seeing at least three bodies after the raid, two in body bags and one exposed on the ground outside the ramshackle, single-storey abode on the edge of a typical Javanese padi field.
The final attack began when around 50 policemen took up positions around the house under the cover of darkness.
Dead at last?: Indonesian policemen unloading a coffin believed to contain the remains of Noordin at the police hospital in Jakarta. As dawn broke, witnesses des-cribed a series of explosions punctuated by sporadic gunfire. Most of the blasts seemed minor, possibly stun or flash grenades, but one destroyed the roof and smoke billowed into the sky.
At this stage, the police opened fire with their assault rifles from various angles including a hill overlooking the property to the rear.
Meanwhile, about four officers with anti-blast shields crept up to the house from a position in front of the television cameras and laid explosive charges, before retreating and detonating them through cables.
Rounds could be seen bursting through the walls from the inside but it was not clear if this came from the occupants of the house or from police fire passing through the property.
With little sign of life or movement inside the building, police moved in, carefully taking positions in the yard and the padi field.
A larger blast then blew away the front door and they stormed in with guns blazing, though it was difficult to tell if there was any return fire or indeed if anyone was in the house at all.
Police said they believed there were four or five people in the house, including Noordin.
Noordin, 40, is one of the most wanted alleged terrorists in Asia and is blamed for at least four suicide attacks against Western targets in Indonesia since 2003, including last month’s hotel bombings in Jakarta.
He is a leading member of the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network blamed for the 2002 Bali attacks which killed 202 people, but split from them around 2003 to form his own, even more extreme group.
Asked whether Noordin was in the house, national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said: “God willing.” — AFP
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