Three Indonesia Militants 'Die In Raids Near Jakarta'

Indonesian security forces say they have killed three suspected militants in two raids near the capital Jakarta. The raids were said to be linked to an ongoing operation against militants in Aceh province that has brought a number of arrests. Police said they could neither confirm nor deny the man killed in the first raid was Dulmatin, a top member of the Jemaah Islamiah group. He is wanted over the Bali bomb attacks in 2002 that killed 202 people. The first raid took place at a two-storey building in Pamulang city, west of the capital, local media reported. They said two people were also arrested. In the second operation, police said they had shot dead two suspected members of the same group and arrested two more, Reuters news agency reports. Anti-terror police chief Tito Karnavian told media the dead man from the first raid was a "big name". A police spokesman, Edward Ariponang, later told the BBC it was not clear if the man was Dulmatin and that further tests were taking place. He said: "We believe that the man. supplied weapons and funding to the Aceh militant group." Dulmatin has been one of the most-wanted Indonesian militant figures. The US has offered a $10m reward for information leading to his death or arrest. He is believed to have set off one of the two bombs in Bali on 12 October 2002. A total of 202 people died in the attacks, many of them foreign tourists. Dulmatin had been thought to be hiding in the Philippines. Security ministry anti-terrorism chief Ansyaad Mbai told Agence France-Presse: "If it's true that it's him, we will be very grateful that the most-wanted terrorist has been killed. It will be a big relief to us." DNA tests might be needed to confirm whether Dulmatin was the man killed. Such tests were needed to prove beyond doubt that Noordin Mohamed Top, at the time Indonesia's most-wanted Islamist militant, had been killed in September 2009. Police thought they had killed him in a previous raid only for forensic tests to prove them wrong. Indonesian police have been engaged in an operation recently targeting Aceh militants. A total of 14 people have been charged with plotting to launch terrorist attacks. Those charged are believed by officials to be members of a previously unknown terror group. But seizures in raids included DVDs on the Bali bombings. Police have been investigating possible links between the militants and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was blamed by the authorities for the Bali attacks.