SINGAPORE, Sept 4 — Indonesia has detained Yudi Lukito Kurniawan, a suspected terrorist who planned an attack on the Singapore Exchange in 2014.

As reported by CNA, the country's counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, in a statement, confirmed that Kurniawan, identified with the initials YLK, is linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

He was apprehended on August 21 in a village in Gorontalo Province, located on the island of Sulawesi.

“YLK is an Indonesian who joined the terror group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who planned to commit a terror attack against the Singaporean Stock Exchange in 2014,” Detachment 88 spokesman Senior Commissioner Aswin Siregar said in the statement yesterday.

The alleged plot to attack the Singapore Exchange was reportedly ordered by AQAP, although specific details about how the attack was to be executed were not provided.

According to Aswin, YLK had attended several terrorism training camps, including one in East Java in 2001 organised by the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

YLK was first arrested in 2003 for possessing firearms, which were entrusted to him by a convicted Bali bomber. He later joined Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid, a splinter cell of JI, and travelled to Yemen in 2012 to support AQAP's global jihad.

Aswin was quoted as telling Jakarta Globe that YLK was instructed by a senior AQAP member, AM or AZ, to target the Singapore Stock Exchange. In 2015, YLK attempted to enter Singapore by sea but was rejected and deported to Batam by Singaporean immigration authorities.

Police found a passport in his name and a Singapore immigration inspection document when he was arrested in Sulawesi. Aswin said investigation is ongoing.

This is not the first instance of Indonesia-based militants targeting Singapore.

In August 2016, Indonesian authorities thwarted a plot by Batam-based terrorists who planned a rocket attack on Marina Bay Sands. This group was following orders from Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian Islamic State militant in Syria.

YLK’s arrest comes just two months after leaders of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated JI announced the group's dissolution on June 30.

Despite this, terrorism remains a regional threat. CNA reported that experts have warned about the continued activity of the IS-backed Jamaah Ansharut Daulah and several JI splinter groups.