Police find terrorist activity outside Aceh

The National Police chief Gen. Hendarso Danuri said Monday the police had found evidence of terrorist activities in other parts of the country, not just in Aceh, where clashes between suspected terrorists and police claimed the lives of three policemen recently.

"[There are terrorist activities] in a number of other places. I will explain everything later," Hendarso was quoted by kompas.com as saying. He did not want to disclose the locations now because he said it could disrupt antiterror police operation in those areas.

The police arrested 16 people in raids on a suspected terrorist training camp in the jungle in Aceh Besar regency, Aceh. The police lost three of its officers when the antiterror forces were ambushed by suspected terrorists. One suspected terrorist was also killed.

Commenting on the newly discovered training camp in Aceh Besar regency, Hendarso said the police were not ruling out the possibility that the terrorist activities in Aceh Besar had links with terrorists operating at the Malacca Strait.

He said the police were intensifying patrols in the Malacca Strait, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, together with police forces from neighboring countries.

"Indonesia is cooperating with Singapore and Malaysia in securing the Malacca Strait," he said.