Indonesia's police kill six suspected Islamic militants

[JAKARTA] Indonesia's police shot dead six suspected IS-linked militants in a gunfight on Java island over the weekend, a police spokesman said Sunday.

Seven men drove up to a traffic police post on Saturday and fired shots at the officers. Nobody was injured but a car chase ensued.

The seven men then abandoned their vehicle and fled into an agricultural area in Tuban, in East Java.

"When the local police swept through the area, a gunshot was heard. A gunfight took place after and six of the men died," said national police spokesman Rikwanto, who goes by one name.

Police arrested one member of the group alive.

Police claim the attackers were part of the of IS-linked Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) network, which has been blamed for a series of recent attacks in Indonesia including one in Jakarta last January.

Numerous recent IS-linked plots in Indonesia have been botched or foiled, with analysts saying that many of the country's militants lack the capacity to launch serious attacks.

Indonesia has suffered a series of Islamic militant attacks in the past 15 years, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

A sustained crackdown weakened the most dangerous networks but the emergence of IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for radicals.

AFP