Police detain 93 Afghan asylum seekers

Local police in Sukabumi, West Java, say they are detaining 93 Afghan asylum seekers suspected of trying to reach Australia.

Lt. Col. Herukoco, chief of Sukabumi district police, says police stopped three minibuses carrying the Afghans including five woman and three children early Saturday.

Herukoco, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, says the group told police they left their war-ravaged homeland to start new lives as refugees in Australia.

He says the group did not have Indonesian visas and has been transferred to an immigration detention center while their identities are confirmed