SURABAYA, Indonesia, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The anti-terror squad of the Indonesian police has arrested 31 alleged militants in the wake of suicide attacks on three churches and at least two police headquarters in the country in recent days, senior police officers said Thursday.
A total of 23 alleged militants were captured in East Java province and eight others in Riau province of Sumatra island, the officers said.
"There are 23 arrests. We order the other alleged terrorists to surrender instead of being persistently hunted," Police Chief of East Java province Inspector General Machfud Arifin said here.
The general said that four alleged terrorists were shot dead during the arrest.
Separately in Riau province, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian said that a total of eight alleged militants have been nabbed by the anti-terror squad in the province in the wake of Wednesday's assault on the provincial police headquarters.
Tito Karnavian said that the perpetrators of the assault in the province and the suicide bombers in East Java province were members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is loyal to the DAESH (Islamic State or IS).
"All the perpetrators are members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah. I bet on this as we have monitored the movement of this group since three to four years ago," he said.
During the arrest of the alleged militants, the police seized a flag of DAESH and scores of weapons, according to the police.
Suicide bombers blew themselves up in a series of assaults in three churches on Sunday in Surabaya city, the provincial capital of East Java and a suicide bombing in the police headquarters in the city on Monday.
Those were followed by a sword-wielding assault in the police headquarters in Riau province on Wednesday, which left 32 people dead and dozens others wounded. The attackers were comprised of family members including women and children.
The incidents were also followed by a series of gunfight between the police and terrorists in the province and North Sumatra province that killed 3 militants, according to the police.
A special force unit of the Indonesian military has recently been absorbed into the national police to help crack down the rising threat of terrorist attacks.
