An audacious attack by suicide bombers in the heart of Indonesia’s capital was funded by the Islamic State group, police said Friday, as they seized an ISIS flag from the home of one of the attackers and carried out raids across the country in which one suspected militant was killed.
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The suicide bombings in Jakarta killed at least seven people, three of them the attackers themselves.
Police spokesman M. Iqbal told The Straits Times on Saturday (Jan 16) that counter-terrorism forces conducted simultaneous raids across Indonesia and nabbed the men.
“We can not say how many people have been caught yet because it may interfere with our tragedy”.
“They are sending the message that ‘we are not going to be just a Syria-Iraq issue”.
The attacker’s name has been revealed as Afif, also known under the alias Sunakim.
It said they were arrested for suspected links to the attackers.
Police spokesman Anton Charliyan said the Jakarta five and the 12 others who were arrested had plans to attack cities elsewhere in Indonesia, including Bandung, which lies some 120 kilometres south-east of the capital.
A police officer gives a hand signal to a squad mate as they search a building near the site of an explosion in Jakarta, Indonesia Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016.
In a statement, the police chief said the suspect confessed to planning a suicide attack in Malaysia after receiving orders from a foreign IS member in Syria.
No details were given about where and how he planned to attack.
Separately, authorities say they have blocked more than a dozen websites expressing support for Thursday’s attack.
The style of the attack, and the people who appear to be behind it, suggest that remnants of the networks responsible for the notorious 2002 Bali bombings and other assaults are trying to regroup under the banner of the Islamic State group.
Photographs showed Afif, dressed in a baseball cap and jeans, and wearing a backpack and shoulder bag, pointing a gun at a crowd at the scene of the attack on Thamrin Street in Jakarta.
“We are monitoring many websites and public complaints about this”, said Cawidu. “Indonesia is a strong state”.
The press conference was told one of the victims of Thursday’s attack was Canadian Amer Ouali Tahar, who was killed outside Starbucks.
A total of 26 people were injured in the attacks, of which 19 are still in hospital.
“This is especially so in the southern part of the country”, Mayor said, adding that he is in touch with the Directorate for Intelligence about coordination with their counterparts in Indonesia regarding the aftermath of the bombings in Jakarta. Five of those injured were police officers and four were foreigners from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Algeria.
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The area near the Starbucks cafe remained cordoned off with a highly visible police presence.
