SINGAPORE: Indonesia has arrested a suspected terrorist – identified as Yudi Lukito Kurniawan – who plotted an attack on the Singapore Exchange building in 2014.
Indonesia’s counter-terrorism unit Detachment 88 said in a statement identifying the man with the initials YLK that he is affiliated with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
He was nabbed in a village in Gorontalo Province on the island of Sulawesi on Aug 21.
“YLK is an Indonesian who joined the terror group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who planned to commit a terror attack against the Singaporean Stock Exchange in 2014,” Detachment 88 spokesman Senior Commissioner Aswin Siregar said on Tuesday (Sep 3).
The alleged terror attack against the Singapore Exchange building in the central business district was said to be under AQAP’s order. There were no details on how he was planning to carry out such an attack.
YLK had participated in several terrorism training camps, said Mr Aswin, including one in 2001 in East Java conducted by terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
YLK was first arrested in 2003 for possessing firearms given to him for safekeeping by UM, by a convicted Bali bomber. YLK later joined Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, a splinter cell of JI and travelled to Yemen in 2012 as part of the AQAP global jihad.
“In Yemen, YLK claimed he was instructed by AM or AZ, a senior AQAP member, to carry out a terror attack on the Singapore Stock Exchange. In 2015, YLK attempted to enter Singapore via sea but was rejected by Singaporean immigration and deported to Batam,” Mr Aswin said, as quoted by Jakarta Globe.
When he was arrested, the police found a passport under the name of Yudi Lukito Kurniawan and a piece of Singapore immigration’s inspection document.
“We are still investigating the evidence,” said Mr Aswin.
The arrest came just two months after leaders of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JI announced the dissolution of the terror group on Jun 30. Terror experts have warned however that despite the dissolution, terrorism will still remain a threat in the region as Islamic State-backed Jamaah Ansharut Daulah as well as several JI splinter groups remain active.
On Jul 31, Detachment 88 foiled a suicide bombing plot involving a 19-year-old Islamic State sympathiser identified as HOK. The teenager, police said, learned how to assemble explosives online and was planning to target a religious site in Malang, East Java.
Less than a week later on Aug 6, police arrested two Islamic State sympathisers accused of propagating the terror network’s teachings online. Police said they have not found evidence that the two cases were related.
