Indonesia holds terror suspects, seizes bomb material

Indonesian police on Thursday arrested two men with alleged links to a terror network targeted in recent raids and seized bomb-making material, machetes and swords, an official said. More than 20 suspects have now been arrested and eight killed in police raids on Java and Sumatra islands in the past two weeks, as Indonesia carries out its biggest counter-terror operation in months. On Thursday, the elite counter-terrorism squad arrested two men in Solo, a city in Central Java province regarded as a terrorism hotbed, local police chief Asjimain, who goes by one name, told AFP. "We found a 25 kilogramme (55 pound) container of potassium chlorate buried in the backyard of one of the men's houses," he said, adding that police had also seized 15 weapons, including machetes and swords. Potassium chlorate can be used as a bomb-making ingredient. National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said the detained pair had links with those arrested recently. The raids have targeted a network which was allegedly raising money through robberies to fund militant activities. Several of those arrested and killed were also suspected of being involved in a plot to bomb the Myanmar embassy. Indonesia has mounted a crackdown on terrorism in the past decade in the wake of several attacks on Western targets, which has weakened key militant groups. Most attacks nowadays are low-impact and target Indonesian security forces.