Widodo ramps up security after IS-linked stabbing

JAKARTA: Indonesian leader Joko Widodo ordered beefed-up security measures yesterday after two militants from an IS-linked terror group stabbed his chief security minister, with the politician in hospital recovering from emergency surgery.

Police were searching for more suspects in the wake of the assassination attempt on Wiranto, a 72-yearold former army chief who goes by one name.

The minister was knifed twice in the stomach as he left his vehicle in Pandeglang on Java island during an official visit on Thursday.

“Although there are already security precautions, they should be improved so what happened to [Wiranto] never happens again,” Mr Widodo told reporters in Jakarta yesterday.

A 31-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman, reportedly a married couple, were arrested at the scene. They were later identified as members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist network loyal to the Islamic State group.

Mr Widodo said he had ordered the national police and intelligence agency chiefs to pursue other suspects within JAD, which was responsible for several previous attacks — including deadly suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya last year.

The attack came shortly before Mr Widodo begins his second term as president of the Southeast Asian archipelago of 260 million people.

“An attack like this should set off alarm bells for security personnel to increase their caution,” said Ridwan Habib, a terrorism researcher at the University of Indonesia.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with attacks by Islamist militants, including the 2002 Bali bombings.

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the attack in Bali that killed over 200 people — Indonesia’s deadliest terror incident.