A suicide bomber attacked a Bandung police station on Wednesday. The attack was motivated by Indonesia’s recent criminal code.
According to Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the suicide bomber is believed to have been affiliated with Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (ISIS-inspired) and was previously in prison on terrorist charges.
According to the police chief, the attacker was identified as Agus Suejatno. Investigators found many documents at the crime scene protesting new laws in the country.
He said that he found “dozens” of documents protesting the new criminal code.
Analysts say that although there are provisions based on sharia in the new criminal code, ratified Tuesday by Parliament, Islamist hardliners may have been offended by some other articles which could be used for cracking down on extremist ideology propagation.
Metro TV reported that the West Java Police Chief Suntana had earlier stated to Metro TV, “The authorities found a motorbike in the area which was believed to be used by the attacker.”
Suntana stated that a note attached to the bike contained a warning message denouncing the new criminal code and calling it “an infidel products”.
Todd Elliott from Concord Consulting, Jakarta was a senior security analyst and said that it is likely that the attack was planned since a while. He also claimed that the plot was an ideological rejection to the new laws.
He said that while all attention has been paid to some of these sharia-based criminal codes and how it is an indicator of the spread conservative Islam in Indonesian, there are other changes in the penal code that would be opposed by hardliners.
Pancasila also prohibits any ideologies that are against state ideology. This would include extreme ideology.
The scene of Wednesday’s attack was captured on video. It showed smoke rising from the destroyed police station and debris lying below it.
“Suddenly, I heard an explosion…” “Suddenly, I heard an explosion.
In recent years, Islamist militants attacked the largest Muslim nation in the world, as well as churches and police stations, and other venues that are frequented daily by foreigners.
In 2018, a number of suicide bombings at churches in Surabaya were committed by members of JAD. Three families carried out the attacks, which resulted in at least 30 deaths. They also used suicide vests on their children.
A suicide bombing attack on a Makassar cathedral by a couple of newlyweds from JAD killed only the victims.
After suicide bombings connected to JAD, Indonesia developed a new law against terrorism to combat militants.
Analysts say that the group is now fragmented and has suffered from a series of recent arrests made by the anti-terrorism agency.
