Indonesia Automatic Fingerprint Identification System officers investigate following the blast at a district police station in Bandung. - Reuters
JAKARTA (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A suspected suicide bomber attacked a police station in Indonesia’s West Java province on Wednesday (Dec 7), killing himself and a police officer, and wounding eight people, police said.
Of the eight injured, seven were police officers, of which four sustained serious injuries, National Police spokesman Ahmad Ramadhan told reporters in an update.
In a live broadcast on the National Police YouTube channel earlier, Brigadier General Ahmad confirmed the incident that happened at 8.20am (9.20am Singapore time) at the Astana Anyar police station in Bandung, West Java, adding that Bandung police were now closely coordinating investigations with the anti-terrorism unit.
“The situation is under control and (we urge) the community to remain calm. The police is working swiftly,” he added.
Local channel Metro TV cited residents as saying there had been a loud explosion, while Kompas TV – another local channel – showed footage of the damage at the entrance of the Astana Anyar police station in Bandung and closed roads in the area.
Bandung police official Aswin Sipayung told Kompas TV that “a man trespassed while wielding a sharp weapon; he was trying to get through as the police officers were going through the morning roll call”.
The suicide bomber then detonated his device, killing himself.
West Java police chief Suntana told Metro TV that authorities were investigating a blue motorbike found at the scene, which they believed was used by the attacker.
Attached to the bike was a note carrying a message rejecting Indonesia’s new criminal code, which Parliament ratified on Tuesday.
“There was a note on the motorbike saying the criminal code is an infidel product, let’s eradicate the law enforcers,” he said, adding that the attacker brought two bombs to the scene but only one was detonated.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has faced attacks by militants, who have on occasion targeted the police.
Terror experts told The Straits Times that Wednesday’s attack could be the work of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a pro-ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) terror group, which has morphed into the country’s leading terror organisation.
JAD has been blamed – among other attacks – for the church bombings on Sulawesi island in March 2021, and on Jolo island in the Philippines in 2019.
JAD is an offshoot of South-east Asia’s most notorious terror network, Jemaah Islamiah (JI), whose former spiritual leader – convicted radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir – had pledged allegiance in 2014 to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the slain leader of the ISIS.
The deputy head of Indonesia’s anti-terrorism agency, Ibnu Suhendra, had told Reuters the police station blast was carried out by a terrorist group. In 2019, Indonesia created a tough new anti-terrorism law in response to suicide bombings linked to JAD.
Separately, Dr Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, the deputy head of politics, law, security and human rights affairs of the Executive Office of the President, said: “The perpetrators are strongly suspected of being an old terrorist network that rejects democracy and modern laws such as the criminal code.
“The government strongly condemns any act of terrorism, whatever the motive is, because it is contrary to human values. This incident shows that there are still people who carry out acts of terror by using bombs that can cause large casualties. This action clearly cannot be tolerated, whatever the reason,” she said in a statement.
She stressed that the government monitors networks of radical groups and organisations, including individuals who are affiliated and have sworn allegiance to terrorist organisations, so perpetrators will not be able to escape the legal process.
She added: “The authorities are currently investigating the incident and will carry out law enforcement.”
Senior researcher Muh Taufiqurrohman, from Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies, said Wednesday’s incident could be a “revenge attack” by an ex-inmate and member of JAD South Bandung, who may have plotted the attack with others.
He said future attacks could not be ruled out, so “the Indonesian government needs to watch the movement of former terrorist inmates, who are not rehabilitated, closely to prevent their regrouping and recidivism”.
“They want to show that they still exist and are loyal to IS. The attack also serves as a warning to the police that they will never stop attacking them,” he told The Straits Times.
Taufiqurrohman also said the attack served as a call to former JAD members, non-rehabilitated former inmates, and even ordinary young people to uphold Islamic law and support Islamic State (IS), referring to another name for ISIS.
He added: “It’s like saying, ‘Wake up, we have an obligation to do it, If I can do it, you can do it too’.”
