Indonesia arrests 22 terror suspects after minister attacked

VNA 16/10/2019 08:41

Indonesian police on October 14 arrested 22 suspected terrorists with links to self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) following the stabbing of the country’s Chief Security Minister Wiranto in Banten province last week.

Indonesian Chief Security Minister Wiranto is taken to hospital after the stabbing (Photo: AFP)

A spokesperson of Indonesian national police said that those suspects were arrested in Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Bali island, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Jambi and Lampung provinces.

Earlier, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered security and police forces to ensure safety for officials after Wiranto was stabbed when he was visiting Pandeglang city in Banten province on the island of Java.

The two assailants belong to IS-linked terror network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), affirmed the chief of Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency.

JAD had staged several terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the multiple suicide attacks in East Java and Riau provinces in May 2018, and similar ones on a police station and Starbucks Cafe in the heart of Jakarta that killed eight people in January 2016.