Indonesian authorities say group linked to 2002 nightclub bombers had been planning robberies to fund attacks
Indonesian police on Bali shot dead five suspected terrorists who had identified and surveyed targets for attack, the national counter-terrorism agency has said.
The group was linked to the banned Jemaah Islamiyah group, blamed for nightclub bombings on the resort island in 2002 that killed more than 200 people, mostly Australian tourists, said officials.
The suspected militants had identified "typical terrorist targets", said Ansyaad Mbai, head of national counter-terrorism agency. "They have several targets in several locations in Bali. They have surveyed the places."
The 2002 Bali attacks were a watershed for Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, forcing the secular state to confront the presence of violent militants on its soil.
Police said the suspects had been about to stage armed robberies to fund their attacks when they were killed in gunfights with police. The militant group was linked to one that had robbed banks in Medan.
"This is an Islamic militant group, a splinter group of Jemaah Islamiyah who established a training camp in Aceh," said national police spokesman Saud Usman Nasution.
"They were trying to do a heist because they want to collect money for their fight."
The five were armed with two rifles, two ammunition magazines, 48 bullets and a balaclava in preparation to rob a foreign exchange bureau and a gold shop, police said.
"Last night we have paralysed five criminal perpetrators who were planning to commit terrorist acts and rob foreign currency and gold shops in several locations in Bali," said national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar.
"All the suspects died during the raids because they defied or shot back with pistols at the police officers."
Australian media quoted another senior police officer as saying it was possible the group had been planning to carry out attacks on Thursday, the eve of Nyepi, the annual day of silence marking Bali's Hindu new year.
Balinese traditionally hold large parades on the eve of Nyepi, which also draws large numbers of tourists, according to the Australian Associated Press.
The trial began last month of an Islamist militant accused of making the bombs used in the 2002 Bali nightclubs attack. Umar Patek – who was captured in Abbottabad, the same Pakistan town where US forces killed Osama bin Laden – is also accused of mixing chemicals for 13 bombs that detonated in five churches in Jakarta on Christmas Eve 2000, killing about 15 people. He is accused of belonging to Jemaah Islamiyah.