INDONESIA
Antara-May 16
The Indonesian Police Headquarters has involved the Army`s Special Elite Force (Kopassus) in combating terrorism in the country.
“Kopassus has been involved in it (counter-terrorism),” Chief of the Public Relations Division at the National Police Headquarters Inspector General Setyo Wasisto stated here on Wednesday.
Wasisto noted that the Chief of the National Police, General Tito Karnavian, has revealed the involvement of Kopassus in counter-terrorism efforts.
The National Police`s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) has been cooperating with Kopassus in maintaining security when an anti-terror squad raided a terrorist cell.
Chief of the Presidential Staff General (ret) Moeldoko had earlier revealed a plan to involve special elite forces from the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force to fighting terrorism in the country.
“I had reported it to President Joko Widodo yesterday, and he was interested in it. We will discuss it with TNI (National Defense Forces) Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto,” Moeldoko remarked.
Moeldoko once set up a joint special elite force comprising 90 best soldiers from the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force when he held the post of TNI chief in 2015 to cope with terrorism in the country.
A series of bomb attacks hit three churches, a city police station in Surabaya, and a flat in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Sunday and Monday, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens.
In Riau Province, the police confirmed that they had shot dead four terrorists attempting to attack the Riau Police Headquarters in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru on Wednesday.
