“Chatter among Islamists began to become more organised last month and there were discussions for the first time of a multiple attack”, said a Jakarta-based security adviser, who monitors radical group discussions on mobile messaging services for the government.
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Indonesia’s Church leaders have condemned Thursday’s terrorist attack in their capital Jakarta and are calling for a concerted effort across religions and societies to help end the scourge of terrorism.
Indonesia’s president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo rushed to the scene from another part of Java, one of Indonesia’s main islands and home to the capital Jakarta.
Insp Gen Karnavian said Indonesia had significantly developed its understanding of domestic militant networks since the 2002 bomb attack in Bali, which killed 202 people. They included two civilians, one suicide bomber, two assailants who had been shot dead by police, and two other suspected attackers whose cause of death has yet to be declared. Police said they were ISIS supporters but not connected to Thursday’s attack in Jakarta.
Charliyan said police had received information in November about a warning from the Islamic State group that “there will be a concert” in Indonesia, meaning an attack.
Indonesia’s national police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti says all activities of the group responsible for the Thursday attack in Jakarta were funded by the Islamic State movement. Terrorism experts say IS supporters in Indonesia are drawn from the remnants of Jemaah Islamiyah and other groups. Two civilians, including a Canadian, and a police officer were also killed while another 20 were wounded.
Police in the city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan province said they had arrested one suspected militant, but it was not clear if he was related to the Jakarta attack, the Antara news agency reported. “The services provided by them are good, cheaper than in Indonesia”, he said.
The attackers detonated explosives and shot at people in a district packed with malls, embassies and United Nations offices and waged gunbattles with police.
Onlookers and journalists lingered nearby, with some people leaving flowers and messages of support.
The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility in an online statement following the seven explosions and several gunfights on a busy commercial street in Jakarta.
Earlier, Bahrum Naim, an Indonesian believed to be fighting with ISIS in Syria, was named as the suspected coordinator.
But with the city’s police chief admitting Thursday’s assault is likely to be a game-changer for Indonesia, there is no doubt the risk of another attack has taken a new form.
While there is no indication Mr. Naim was involved in those attacks, he joined another militant group formed by Mr. Bashir, who is now serving a 15-year jail term for terrorism-related offenses, according to an official with Indonesia’s counterterrorism body. “This is a guy who has always had ambitions bigger than the organizations that he happens to belong to”, she said.
Mr Sutiyoso drew comparisons between the Jakarta attack to recent incidents in Paris and Turkey, saying it is not simple to determine when and where the assailants will strike.
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“I am not afraid of terrorists because life is in Allah’s hands, and today is Friday so, God willing, nothing bad will happen”, said Toto Suhadi, 52, a gardener watering plants near the attack site.
