Isis-linked militants in Indonesia planned machete attack on New Year's Eve, say police

Two among four suspected militants were shot dead while two are in police custody.

Militants in Indonesia, who are thought to be supporting the Islamic State (Isis) group, were planning machete and knife attacks on police on New Year's Eve near Jakarta, a police spokesman said on Monday (26 December).

Reports suggest that the Indonesian police foiled a terror plot after arresting two of the alleged would-be attackers on Sunday. The duo led the authorities to a hideout of two other suspected co-conspirators who reportedly attacked officers with machetes. The police had to shoot dead the two of them eventually.

"The four of them were planning to attack a police post in Purwakarta [a district about 100km east of the capital, Jakarta]. They planned to attack on New Year's Eve," Reuters cited Rikwanto, a national police spokesman, as saying.

Police are yet to investigate and confirm if the militants involved in the latest foiled plot had any bombs in their possession.

The two arrested men were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah militant group supporting IS, the spokesman said. However, it is not clear whether they have been maintaining contacts and receiving orders from Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant who fled to Syria to fight about two years ago, Rikwanto added.

Authorities in Indonesia have claimed to have foiled several attacks during the festival season after conducting a series of raids over the past few weeks. Sunday's raid comes as the latest in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, raising concerns over home-grown militants expanding in the country.

Indonesia's elite police unit is believed to have foiled at least 15 attacks since January, arresting more than 150 suspected militants. They say many of the recent uncovered plots have been inspired, if not directed, by Naim.

Less than a week ago, police uncovered another terror plot involving suicide bombers after interrogating more than a dozen suspects they had arrested recently. They were reportedly planning to strike the presidential palace in Jakarta.

The militants are reported to have adopted a new tactic to involve women for carrying out suicide attacks.

Indonesia came under an attack by IS militants earlier in January. A gun and bomb assault killed four people in the heart of Jakarta.