Suspected IS radical stabs Indonesian gov’t official
A SUSPECTED Islamic State (IS) radical stabbed Indonesia’s chief security minister Wiranto as he was stepping out of a vehicle on Thursday, leaving two deep wounds in his stomach and injuring three others in the attack, officials said.
Telev ision images showed securit y officers wrestling a man and a woman to the ground outside a universit y i n Pandeglang on Java island af ter t he attack on t he 72year-old, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
“Someone approached and attacked him,” said National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo, adding that the pair had been arrested.
Berkah Hospital spokesman Firmansyah said the former military general suffered “two deep wounds” in his stomach and may need surgery, but was conscious and in stable condition.
Wiranto was later rushed by helicopter to the capital Jakarta.
The other three victims – a local police chief and two aides – had non-life threatening injuries, the hospital said.
The suspects were identified as 31year-old Syahril Alamsyah and Fitri Andriana, 21. Police said Alamsyah had been “exposed to [IS] radicalism”, without elaborating.
It was not immediately clear if either were members of one of the dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation.
The attack comes just over a week before Indonesian President Joko Widodo kicks off a second term after his April re-election.
In May, police said Wiranto and three other top officials were targeted in a failed assassination plot linked to deadly riots in Jakarta after Widodo’s victory.
A group of six people – arrested before they could carry out the killings – planned to murder the officials and an election pollster in a bid to plunge the country into chaos, police said at the time.
Wiranto, the former chief of the armed forces and a failed presidential candidate, is a major figure in Indonesian politics.
He has long been accused of human-rights violations and for crimes against humanity linked to violence following Timor-Leste’s 1999 independence referendum.