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JAKARTA : The head of Indonesia's Anti-Terrorism desk believes there is a new militant regional terror network operating in Southeast Asia. And for the first time, the militants are also targeting individuals, on top of launching bigger scale attacks that can inflict mass casualties.
Militants last launched an attack in Indonesia in October 2005.
The explosives were detonated by suicide bombers in packed restaurants in Bali.
A series of arrests and prosecutions followed - disrupting the regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.
But the masterminds - Nordin Mohd Top and Abu Dujana - who are senior members of the group, remain elusive.
All along, the authorities have maintained that the militants are consolidating and planning their next attack.
The recent arrest of a group of militants in Yogjakarta and the discovery of weapons, thousands of ammunition and half a ton of explosives proved their fears were not unfounded.
Indonesia's head of anti-terror desk believes the arms cache indicates the group belonged to a network operating in the region, but one which is operating independently.
Ansyad Mbai, Indonesia's Head of Anti-Terror Desk, Indonesia, said, "This is a network, not only a cell. They have many weapons - sophisticated weapons, 3 M-16s...The explosives they are hiding now are bigger than the explosives in Bali. What does this mean? Their capability is bigger than before."
It is clear the militants were preparing to launch a large scale attack.
There is also evidence to suggest that for the first time they were targeting individuals.
Mr Ansyad said, "This group possessed three M-16s. This means they are pursuing their specific targets - individual targets. It never happened before. They carried these M-16s - which means this is very dangerous..."
Authorities said the M-16 rifles seized were not the type used by Indonesia's security forces but by a country in the region, which they refused to divulge.
But security experts have said the weapons were likely from the restive Southern Philippines or Southern Thailand.
Indonesia's anti-terror unit maintained such weapons and ammunition could only be made available by a terror network operating at a regional level. - CNA/ms
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