The foiled plan targeted the Pope, who was visiting Indonesia, where he began a 12-day tour of Asia and the Pacific.
The suspects were arrested on September 2-3 after police were tipped off by concerned citizens.
According to The Straits Times, police raided the home of one of the suspected militants, where they found bows, arrows, a drone and ISIS leaflets.
The would-be terrorists were apparently angered by the Pope visiting a mosque in Jakarta.
Indonesian TV stations have reportedly been asked not to broadcast the customary Islamic call to prayer when they aired a visit by Pope Francis, which has enraged suspected jihadists.
The suspects are identified only by initials: HFP, LB, DF, FA, HS, ER and RS.
It is not yet clear if they were all related.
A spokesman for Indonesia’s counter-terrorism unit, Densus 88 – or Squad 88 – said the threats were broadcast on social media.
“We have a monitoring and filtering mechanism. Densus 88 has taken legal action against seven individuals who … made propaganda or terror threats on social media in response to the Pope’s visit. There were also threats to set fire to these places,” said Colonel Aswin Siregar.
During the 12-day trip, the 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church has already visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and will later visit East Timor and Singapore.
Having had health problems for the past few years, Pope Francis uses a wheelchair.
Speaking at Jakarta’s presidential palace earlier this week, he railed against religious extremism.
“There are cases where faith can be manipulated to incite discord and increase hatred,” he said.
He added that religious differences need to be talked about, saying: “Prejudice can be removed and an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust can grow.”
Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, has been fighting terrorism for decades.
It burned during the infamous 2002 bombings in popular Bali. and suffered attacks in Jakarta hotels in 2009. Islamic extremism is once again grabbing headlines around the world.
Even pagan „The Sun“ inf.
2024-09-08 15:51:27