Jakarta: Army trucks thundered through Indonesia’s capital on Friday as authorities boosted security at possible terror targets and probed the suspected Islamic State cell blamed for Jakarta’s deadly militant attacks.
Four of the five men killed in suicide and gun assaults yestrday had been identified, and a subsequent search of one of their homes found IS-related evidence, including the group’s flag, National police spokesman Anton Charliyan said.
The rapid-fire series of bombings and a shootout between gunmen and police erupted in a busy part of the capital, lined with malls and foreign missions, shocking moderate-Muslim Indonesians and leaving two civilians and five attackers dead.
Authorities in the world’s most populous Muslim country have blamed a network of Islamic State fighters from Southeast Asia that was forged in the radical jihadist group’s war in Syria and Iraq.
“An alert has been imposed throughout Indonesia,” said Charliyan.
“National police are on their highest alert, especially in areas considered targets of terror, like police stations, government offices, and embassies, with army backup.”
He did not elaborate on the army’s role but AFP reporters saw a convoy of a half-dozen military trucks filled with heavily armed troops in central Jakarta.
Stepped-up police security was also seen at some foreign embassies, and officers in Jakarta and on the resort island of Bali patrolled in riot gear and with assault rifles. Indonesia’s worst terror incident in seven years killed five attackers, a Canadian and an Indonesian man, according to police.
Charliyan said the number of injured was revised upward from 20 to 24 — three foreigners, six police officers and the rest Indonesian civilians.
The attacks spilled out in dramatic fashion on a bustling street at mid-morning, transfixing Indonesia’s hyperactive social-media world, as images and videos of the carnage went viral. Police have singled out Indonesian extremist Bahrum Naim as behind the assault. (AFP)
