Indonesian police arrest 24 suspected militants in raids

By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN
Associated Press

PALU, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they have arrested 24 suspected militants believed to have links to extremists accused of beheadings in remote mountain jungles and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. Central Sulawesi Police Chief Rudy Sufahriadi said Wednesday the suspects are active supporters of the East Indonesia Mujahideen, an extremist network that has claimed responsibility for the killings of police officers and minority Christians in Central Sulawesi. The group has been weakened over the past decade by a sustained crackdown on militants by joint military and police forces. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, launched a crackdown on militants following bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly Western and Asian tourists.