Indonesia nabs 'al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted attack' on Singapore building in 2014
Singapore immigration stopped suspect from entering in 2015 and later deported him.
JAKARTA: Indonesia has reportedly arrested a suspected terrorist in Sulawesi island who was allegedly linked to al-Qaeda and believed to have plotted an attack on a building in Singapore in 2014.
Indonesia’s counterterrorism unit Densus 88 identified the man using his initials, YLK, and as being affiliated with the terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP.
The Indonesian man was arrested in a village in Gorontalo Province 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 Exchange in 2014," the Densus 88 spokesman, Senior Police Commissioner Aswin Siregar, was quoted as saying on Tuesday (Sept. 3).
AQAP is the Yemeni branch of al-Qaeda.
The alleged terror plot against the Singapore Exchange building was said to be under AQAP’s order. No details were given on how the plot was supposed to be carried out.
YLK was first arrested in 2003 for possessing firearms given to him for safekeeping by UM, a convicted Bali bomber. YLK later joined Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, a splinter cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, and travelled to Yemen in 2012 as part of AQAP’s global jihad, CNA reported.
"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," Aswin was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe.
When he was arrested, the Indonesian police found a passport and a piece of Singapore immigration’s inspection document, according to CNA further.
YLK had undergone training at Camp Hudaibiyah in the Philippines and military training in East Java in 2001 held by Jemaah Islamiyah, DetikNews reported.
"Before joining AQAP, YLK had attended training at Camp Hudaibiyah, Philippines in 1998 to 2000. Then in 2001, YLK had attended Muqoyama Badar stage 2 (military training) in East Java which was a programme of Jemaah Islamiyah," he was quoted as saying.
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