ADDS BACKGROUND ON SUSPECTED BOMBER
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) – A suicide bomber with Daesh links detonated an explosive device early Tuesday outside police headquarters in the Indonesian province of Central Java, killing himself and injuring a police officer.
Local news website kompass.com quoted Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Condro Kirono as saying that the explosion occurred at 7.35 a.m (0035GMT) when police stopped a man who arrived on a motorbike from barging into the building.
“A member of the security personnel tried to intercept the attacker but he reversed, and tried to get away,” Kirono said.
“During the pursuit by the police, the perpetrator detonated the bomb.”
Police have said the device used was “low in explosive” and thus only killed the bomber and injured the officer.
Later Tuesday, National Police Chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti linked the man to Daesh in Syria, named him as a Nur Rohman, but said police were still waiting DNA results.
Security forces are on high alert in Indonesia, where Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters Tuesday, President Joko Widodo called on people to be calm, but remain vigilant.
“People should not be afraid of such terror,” he said, adding that he had instructed the national police chief to arrest the network behind the attack.
“We have seen a bomb [attack] in almost every country,” Widodo said. “Violence in the name of anything, is not justifiable and should be cursed.”
