MAJOR COUNTERTERRORIST OPERATION IN CENTRAL JAVA

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001572 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, S/CT, DS/IP/EAP, DS/TIA/ITA NSC FOR J.BADER, D.WALTON DS FOR COMMAND CENTER, FRONT OFFICE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/17/2019 TAGS: PGOV PTER PINS ASEC ID SUBJECT: MAJOR COUNTERTERRORIST OPERATION IN CENTRAL JAVA REF: A. JAKARTA/OPS CENTER 09-17-09 TELCONS ¶B. JAKARTA 1318 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Charge d' Affaires Theodore G. Osius, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Indonesian National Police (INP) raided a suspected terrorist safe house in Solo, Central Java, September 16-17. While details continue to emerge, at least four people were reportedly killed and up to three arrested during the incident. Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist Noordin. M. Top was reportedly among the dead. The GOI has announced that it believes that Top was killed based on fingerprint analysis, but needs to complete a DNA check to be sure. Top--probably the most senior leader left of the remnants of the terrorist group Jemmah Islamiyah--is implicated in the July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta. The location of the raid indicates that Central Java Province remains the focus of the intensive GOI manhunt for terrorists. END SUMMARY. MAJOR POLICE OPERATION IN CENTRAL JAVA ¶2. (U) The Indonesian National Police (INP) raided a suspected terrorist safe house in Solo, Central Java, September 16-17. The raid sparked off a fierce firefight and some explosions. While details continue to emerge, at least four people were reportedly killed and up to three arrested during the operation, which lasted at least eight hours. Police also confiscated up to 200 kilograms of explosive material. NOORDIN M. TOP REPORTEDLY KILLED ¶3. (C) Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist Noordin. M. Top, 41, was reportedly among the dead. In a late afternoon news conference, the GOI announced that it believes that Top was killed based on fingerprint analysis, but needs to complete a DNA check. Top, a Malaysian national, is believed to have masterminded the July 17 bombings of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta, which killed nine people, including the two suicide bombers. Fifty-three people were injured in the blasts. ¶4. (C) Top--probably the most senior leader left of the remnants of the terrorist group Jemmah Islamiyah--has proven very elusive in the past. Indonesian police had to retract their announcement that he had been killed during an August 7-8 operation in Temanggung, Central Java, when DNA confirmed that a body recovered at the scene was not Top's. Police contacts report to us that all the bodies killed during the September 16-17 raid are in Jakarta, so that the GOI can complete the DNA analysis. Other terrorist operatives may also have been killed in the operation, including Urwah alias Bagus Budi Pranoto, a well-known JI operative. Two others reportedly killed have the names Hadi Susilo and Ario Sudarso alias Suparjo Dwi Anggoro alias Aji. CENTRAL JAVA: KEY FOCUS OF MANHUNT ¶5. (C) The province of Central Java remains the key focus of the GOI manhunt. Central Java, with over 35 million people, is believed to contain several sub-regions where small numbers of extremists lurk, including Solo, Semarang and Cilicap. Civil and law enforcement authorities have blanketed the region with billboards and pamphlets as they search for Top and his associates. The GOI's efforts in the region ramped up considerably after the July 17 attacks. Other regions of intensive police activity have included Jakarta, West Java Province and Banten Province. OSIUS