Samurai sword attackers target cops
Four shot dead, policeman dies in latest Indonesian terror onslaught
FOUR men who attacked an Indonesian police headquarters with samurai swords were shot dead yesterday and one officer also died, days after a wave of deadly suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group rocked the country. The assault in the city of Pekanbaru on Sumatra island -- also claimed by IS -- saw a group ram their minivan into a gate at the station and then attack officers, police said.
Days earlier, two families who belonged to the same religious study group staged suicide bombings at churches and a police station in Surabaya on Java island.
The attacks have put Indonesia on edge – and sparked a string of foreign government travel advisories -- as the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country starts the fasting month of Ramadan from today.
Four attackers were shot dead at the scene yesterday and another suspect who fled was later arrested, police said. One officer was killed by the speeding vehicle and two others were wounded in the incident, they said.
Police said the men belonged to a domestic extremist group, but not Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, which authorities believe was behind the family suicide bombings. Both groups have pledged allegiance to IS, they said.
The bloody violence is putting pressure on legislators to pass a stalled security law that would give police more power to take preemptive action against terror suspects.
“I’m outraged and very saddened by these acts carried out by cowards,” Pebby Magdalena, who joined a demonstration in Jakarta in support of the bill, said. “They have no humanity.” Indonesia -- which is set to host the Asian Games in just three months and an IMF-World Bank meeting in Bali in October -- has long struggled with Islamist militancy.
Its worst attack yet was the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, including residents and foreign tourists.
Security forces have arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown since the Bali bombing. Most attacks in recent years have been limited to low-level operations against domestic security forces.
But on Sunday, a family of six -- including girls aged nine and 12 -- staged suicide bombings at three churches during morning services in Surabaya, killing 13.
All six bombers died, including the mother who was Indonesia’s first known female suicide bomber. It was also the first time children had been used in such attacks.
A memorial service was held yesterday for Vincencius Hudojo, 11, and Nathanael Hudojo, 8, two brothers who died after the blast at the Santa Maria Catholic Church on Sunday in Surabaya. Their mother was injured.
Services were also held for Martha Djumani, 54, who was killed at a Pentecostal church, just a day after she had got engaged.
“My sister was always caring towards other people and taught her children to be compassionate,” Djumani’s younger brother, Daud Samari, said.
On Monday, members of another family blew themselves up at a police station in Surabaya, wounding 10. – AFP