Indonesia says it has broken up plot to attack police HQ in Jakarta

JAKARTA - Indonesian police said on Monday anti-terrorism officers had arrested eight Islamist militants and uncovered bomb-making material suspected of being prepared for an attack on police headquarters in the capital Jakarta.

The suspects were members of the Islamic State-inspired Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group, national police spokesman Iqbal Alqudusy said in a statement.

"They had prepared all the materials...to make a bomb and carry out an attack on police headquarters and police on duty," said Alqudusy.

During multiple raids in and around the capital, police seized firearms, as well as a high pressure cooker that would be filled with nails and bolts, as well as the unstable explosive powder known as TATP, or triacetone triperoxide.

Indonesia, which is the world's biggest Muslim-majority country, is grappling with a resurgence in militancy.

The government scrambled to tighten its anti-terrorism laws after a series of suicide bombings linked to JAD cells killed more than 30 people in the city of Surabaya last year.

Hundreds of people have been detained under the new laws since the beginning of 2019.