On the scene of bomb attack in Yolo on January 27 (Source: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian police announced on July 23 that a marriedIndonesian couple was behind a suicide bombing of a Catholic church in thePhilippines in January that killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.
Speaking at a pressconference, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said that a man identifiedas Yoga Febrianto, who was arrested in Malaysia last month, identified thehusband as Rullie Rian Zeke and the wife as Ulfah Handayani Saleh.
According to police,Yoga and the couple he recruited for the bombing were part of Jemaah AnshorutDaulah, a banned Islamic extremist organization in Indonesia that allies itselfwith the Islamic State group. Yoga also had contacts with IS militants inAfghanistan.
Prasetyo said Zeke andSaleh had previously failed in an attempt to reach Syria with their children,and after returning to Indonesia underwent a government deradicalizationprogramme before being released.
The Indonesians'involvement in the cathedral attack was initially suspected from theinterrogations of five militants caught by authorities in the Philippines afterthe bombings, Prasetyo said.
The couple's allegedrole in the bombing of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo highlights linksbetween militants across Southeast Asia.-VNA
VNA
