AT LEAST seven people—five assailants and two civilians—were killed and 20 injured in a series of explosions and gun battles at a security gate next to a Starbucks and Burger King, a UN office and a police post in central Jakarta on January 14th. Police blamed a militant cell linked to Islamic State from Solo, a small central Javanese city (and the hometown of Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s president). Indeed IS has claimed responsibility, though it remains unclear whether the attacks were directed or inspired by the terrorist group. In either case, this was the first such attack in Jakarta since 2009, when militants bombed two Western hotels.
Jakarta had been on edge for weeks. In December nine suspected terrorists were arrested with bomb-making materials, a map of Jakarta and plans to “do a concert”, presumably a code phrase for an attack. Police have arrested others suspected of involvement in a New Year’s Eve bombing in Bandung, in West Java. The Indonesian government estimates that 700 Indonesians have left to fight with IS, though others think that number too high; Sidney Jones, an expert in South-East Asian security and the director of...Continue reading
from Asia http://ift.tt/1Rpbud0
EmoticonEmoticon