Twenty-two suspects arrested in recent weeks were connected to the banned Jemaah Islamiyah militant group — among them a convicted leader who was recruiting and training new members, Indonesian authorities said Thursday.
The 22 men were flown Thursday under the guard of Indonesia’s elite counterterrorism squad from Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, to a police detention center in the national capital Jakarta for further questioning. Television footage showed them being led off the plane, their hands and legs cuffed and their faces masked.
A dozen of them were arrested in different cities in East Java province late last month. Counterterrorism police arrested another 10 early this month. Police also seized a pistol, knives, long swords, machetes and jihadist books.