Police have rounded up 48 students and their instructor in an overnight
raid on an Islamic boarding school in Nganjuk, East Java, after complaints from
neighbours worried about what looked like combat training in the compound at
night.
Their suspicions proved right.
Police found air guns, sharp weapons like bamboo spears and arrows, and radical
books and VCDs amid religious texts at the Darul Akhfiya school.
"We strongly suspect their
kind of physical training could lead to acts of terror," national police
spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said yesterday. "We are also exploring the
possibility that they could be linked to other groups."
The discovery comes in the wake
of several high-profile terror arrests in recent months. But the latest
incident, strikingly, reflects a vigilant neighbourhood opposed to terrorism.
It comes as safe havens for militants dwindle.
Security analyst Noor Huda Ismail
said: "This shows that communities can curb terrorism. These are everyday
people standing up against violence."
He believes the recent wave of
arrests has also created a momentum the authorities can ride on.
The school's instructor,
Nasiruddin Ahmad, alias Landung Tri Bawono, is 34 and hails from Solo. He told
the Antara news agency that the school did not teach terrorism but religious
knowledge and self-defence.
But Huda notes that Nasiruddin
graduated from the hardline Darusy Syahadah school in Boyolali, Central Java.
Several of its graduates have been involved in terrorism and assisted Jemaah
Islamiah members Azahari Husin and Noordin Top.
The Nganjuk group is reportedly
from Gabungan Masyarakat Islam (Gamis) - combined Muslim community - a
relatively unknown group. Students came from all over, including Ambon and
Central Sulawesi, the province where a terrorist training camp was uncovered
this month.
The school in Nganjuk did not
have a permit to operate from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Neighbourhood chief Budiarso told
Antara that police had been monitoring the compound - which comprises a 20m by
20m house and an equally large yard - for three months. He said students would
come in groups for up to a month at a time, before being replaced by another
batch.
The former primary school
principal said: "We fear they could be part of a terror network, and we
don't want such activity in our area."
Zakir Hussain
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