Indonesian police said they safely detonated a bomb
in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital on Saturday after arresting
a female would-be suicide bomber and other suspected Islamic militants who were
planning to attack the presidential palace this weekend.
The thwarted plot is likely to cause particular concern in Indonesia
because of the possibility that women with militant network associations are
now being recruited into more active roles, including plotting and carrying out
attacks.
“This marks a new chapter of terrorism in Indonesia, where the suicide
bombing was to be carried out by a woman,” terrorism analyst Ridwan Habib said
in an interview with Indonesian TV.
This marks a new chapter of
terrorism in Indonesia, where the suicide bombing was to be carried out by a
woman terrorism analyst Ridwan Habib
People living within a 300-metre radius of the boarding house where the
pressure cooker bomb was found were evacuated during the police operation.
Two men and a woman were arrested in the neighbourhood, said National
Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar. A fourth suspect, a man, was arrested in the
central Java city of Solo, said Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono.
The bomb potentially could have caused damage within a wide area, Yuwono
said.
Umar Surya Fana, the police chief of Bekasi, a Jakarta satellite city
where the neighbourhood is located, said the militants were monitored by the
police’s counterterrorism squad as they travelled to Jakarta from Solo. The
city is known for its radical mosques and Islamic boarding schools.
Police believe the militants were planning to bomb a presidential
guard-changing ceremony on Sunday that is a tourist attraction in Jakarta, Fana
said.
The woman’s will, which was found during the counterterrorism operation,
stated her desire to take part in amaliyah, an Arabic term used by
extremist groups for attacks or suicide bombings.
“They deliberately chose the target on a Sunday, when many families are
hanging out around the national monument and near the palace, with the
intention of causing a lot of casualties,” said Habib, the analyst.
Police said those arrested are suspected to be part of a militant
network responsible for a bomb-making lab raided last month in West Java
province that was operating under the direction of Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian
fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria.
Those arrested in last month’s raid planned to bomb targets in Jakarta,
including the parliament and the Myanmar Embassy.
Muslim-majority Indonesia has carried out a sustained crackdown on
militants since the 2002 bombings on the tourist island of Bali by
al-Qaeda-affiliated radicals that killed 202 people. But a new threat has
emerged in the past several years from IS sympathisers.
SCMP
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