Jakarta. The National Police's counter-terrorism squad has arrested 59 suspected militants in the past month, the majority of whom are accused of conspiring to carry out attacks during the upcoming elections, according to a spokesperson on Tuesday.

The crackdown on terror cells linked to Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) took place across various regions in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and West Nusa Tenggara, led by the anti-terror squad, Detachment 88.

Chief Commissioner Aswin Siregar, a spokesperson for the squad, said that the detainees consist of 40 JAD members and 19 Jemaah Islamiyah members.

The JAD members are facing charges related to a plot to disrupt the elections. 

"They planned to undermine or disrupt the electoral process, believing that democracy contradicts their faith, thus motivating them to prevent the elections," Aswin said during a press conference at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

These planned attacks also target security and election officials, he added.

Indonesia is gearing up for significant elections in which voters will elect the president, mayors, regents, governors, senators, and parliament members at various levels, all within the same year. The presidential election will commence on February 14, 2024.

Aswin said that these arrests underscore the ongoing threat posed by terror groups like Jemaah Islamiyah and JAD.

Jemaah Islamiyah is a regional militant group with the aim of establishing a caliphate in Southeast Asia. The group is notorious for a series of deadly attacks in the 2000s, including the twin Bali bombings on October 12, 2002, which claimed the lives of over 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

JAD is believed to be a sympathizer group of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and has carried out sporadic attacks in Indonesia in recent years.

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