Indonesian police shoot dead suspected militant

JAKARTA - Indonesian police shot dead a suspected militant and arrested two others, national police said Friday, in an ongoing clampdown on terrorism.

Police from the counter-terrorism unit Detachment 88 shot dead Thursday a single-named suspect called Suardi after he resisted arrest and opened fire, national police spokesman Ronny Sompie told AFP.

Suardi was reportedly a 50-year-old former school teacher. The two other men detained were identified as Ahmad Iswan and Jodi.

Police seized from the men a pistol, a modified air gun, bullets and two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds) of fertiliser, said another national police spokesman, Boy Rafli Amar.

All three were said to be part of a network led by Abu Uswah, who allegedly taught bomb-making and was shot dead in a raid in January.

Police have linked Abu Uswah's network with an attack on South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo in 2012, when militants threw a bomb at the politician that failed to explode.

Indonesia was rocked by several deadly terror attacks last decade, including 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

Since that attack, the country has waged a long crackdown on terrorism, dismantling some of the deadliest networks.

Less sophisticated militant cells, however, have emerged and carried out low-impact bombings and have targeted police officers in several deadly gun attacks, mostly in Sulawesi.