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Jakarta. The National Police have announced that the three suspects killed in North Sumatra and 15 others arrested in separate raids over the weekend are connected with the Aceh-based terrorist group. 

Speaking in a televised press conference on Monday from Medan, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the men were also responsible for a spate of robberies in the region, including the deadly Aug. 18 CIMB-Niaga heist in Medan.

“This case is not just about the Aug. 18 robbery but a string of other robberies in North Sumatra,” he said. “It is a 33-strong team. We have arrested 15, and shot three dead.” 

Two men were killed and two others arrested by members of the elite antiterror unit Densus 88 on Sunday. After nightfall, the unit raided a house in Bunga Tanjung village in Tanjung Balai town, some 200 kilometers south of Medan.

The raid also yielded one AK56 rifle and an FN revolver. “We also found in their possession 1.5 kilograms of TNT,” Bambang said.

The same night, another man was killed and two more arrested in a raid on a house in Deli Serdang district just outside Medan.

One was critically wounded in the Tanjung Balai raid while two others were critically wounded in the Deli Serdang raid.

Raids were also conducted in Lampung, in Southeast Sumatra, where at least one person was arrested, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan  said in Jakarta.

It was not immediately clear where the seven other suspects were arrested. “The teams are still hunting for 15 other perpetrators on the wanted list, and will never stop,” Bambang said.

The police chief said the group was behind a spate of robberies, including a midday heist on Bank Sumut in Medan on April 30, where Rp 600 million ($66,600) was stolen, a June robbery at a BRI bank branch that resulted in Rp 60 million in losses, and another robbery at a money changer in Belawan in which Rp 90 million was stolen.

“Had we not arrested them they would have conducted more robberies in North Sumatra,” Bambang said. “They were targeting a money changer in Tanjung Balai, a bank, at least three showrooms.”

He also defended Densus 88 for killing the three suspects. “At least one of them used human shields, and those shields included children and women,” he said.

Terrorism experts have been speculating that the Aug. 18 CIMB-Niaga heist, which left one policeman dead and two security guards wounded and saw 16 armed robbers make off with Rp 400 million, was perpetrated by terrorists who have been known to rob banks as a way to fund operations.

Bambang said the 15 suspects arrested have told police that they were acting on the orders of a wanted terrorist. “All of them were instructed – the man who moved them to do all this is none other than Abu Tholut,” he said. 

“He has been sentenced to eight years in prison, but was released after a remission. Now he is out there doing what he does. We also learned that before they conducted their activities, they would train in the Mount Sinabung region and Deli Serdang.”

The police chief also said one of those arrested, Aba alias Reza alias Deden alias Abu Jihad, is the deputy of Emir Mustaqim, a member of so-called Al Qaeda in Aceh. 

He added that two people shot during anti-terror raids in May in Cawang were linked to another of the suspects arrested, Marwan alias Wak Nong, who was also one of the 16 armed men who robbed the CIMB-Niaga branch. 

An anti-terrorism police source told the Jakarta Globe that the suspects had links with Maulana, who was killed in East Jakarta in May. “We suspect that Maulana was in contact with Ahmad Gazali, the owner of the house which we raided in Tanjung Balai.

Maulana transferred weapons and  money to him,” the source said. He added that Ahmad Gazali is a member of the hard-line Jamaah Anshorut Tauhid, a group founded and led by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir until he was arrested last month.