Indonesia arrests five after knife attack on police

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) - Indonesia's anti-terror police have arrested five militants for involvement in a recent stabbing attack in North Sumatra Province, which left a policeman and an attacker dead.

Two militants on Sunday fatally stabbed a policeman who was securing Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Medan City.

Head of North Sumatra Police, Inspector General Rycko Amelza Dahniel told Anadolu Agency that the five assisted two suspected terrorists in an attack on a police post during the holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

"Their role ranged from the planning process to reproducing propaganda documents and videos related to Daesh in Syria," Dahniel said adding all five were arrested in a series of raids in Medan City in the last two days.

The militants had allegedly been planning the attack since last week, with the main target of seizing a police gun to carry out a bigger attack.

Dahniel said the militants were members of the Jemaah Anshorut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group that has pledged allegiance to Daesh militants in Syria.