Reports: 2 militants killed in raid in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Anti-terrorism police raided a house near the Indonesian capital Friday, shooting dead an al-Qaida-linked militant who helped organize recent twin hotel bombings in Jakarta and his brother, officials and media reports said.

Police did not immediately confirm the death of Syaiffudin Zuhri, but experts said that the killing, if true, was a blow to terror groups operating in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Police raided the house in Tangerang district about 12 miles (20 kilometers) southwest of Jakarta, and fought a gunbattle with those inside that lasted for about an hour, a member of the police counterterrorism unit told The Associated Press.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said Zuhri and his brother, Ahmad Syahrir, were killed.

Another police official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed two suspects were killed in the raid and said two others were captured.

Indonesian television networks showed heavily armed police outside a house in Tangerang and an ambulance driving away from the scene. Later, they showed two laden body bags being wheeled on gurneys into a hospital.

National police spokesmen did not immediately confirm any details of the raid, saying the police chief would hold a news conference later Friday.

Zuhri is alleged to be a top leader of a militant group blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia, and is believed to have recruited the two bombers who blew themselves up in public areas of the Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in the capital, Jakarta on July 17.

The explosions killed seven people and wounded more than 50, ending a four-year pause in terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Syahrir is also a suspected member of the group, whose leader, Noordin Top, was shot dead during a police raid last month.

Documents in a laptop computer found with Noordin’s body said Zuhri joined an al-Qaida affiliated group called Salafi Jihadi during studies in Yemen. Since 2005 he held a prominent position in Noordin’s group, Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad, which called itself the al-Qaida of Indonesia. Police believe Zuhri sought funding overseas for terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Jim Della-Giacoma, Southeast Asia director of the Geneva-based International Crisis Group think tank, said the raid was a blow to Indonesian militants, though Zuhri’s killing could also be a missed opportunity to gain intelligence.

“If it’s true, Noordin’s network has been decapitated, or really effectively reduced,” Della-Giacoma told the AP. “The problem is we don’t know how big the network was or if there were future plans or other cells. When suspects are killed you lose the opportunity to connect the dots and follow those.”

“It’s a shame they couldn’t get these guys alive,” he said.

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Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Padang, Indonesia, and Anthony Deutsch in Jakarta contributed to this report.