Indonesian suicide bomber struck a police station on Wednesday, killing a police officer and wounding ten others.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with Islamist militancy, but police do not yet know its motive for the attack
In Bandung, Indonesia’s most populous province, the explosion happened during roll call at about 8 am local time (0100 GMT).
“We tried to stop a man trying to enter the office forcibly when officers were doing morning roll calls,” said West Java police chief Suntana.
“While wielding a knife, the perpetrator demanded to be closer to our officers, and suddenly there was an explosion,” he said.
Muslim militant and convicted bombmaker
In the following days, the police bomb squad safely detonate a second device that found nearby.
Among the wounded civilians passing the area who mostly hit by shattered glass and debris, he said.
As of yet, there is no information about the identity of the attacker, who also killed.
A blue motorbike with messages write on white paper see riding to the police station, according to authorities.
According to police, the messages described Indonesia’s criminal code as the work of “infidels” and urged people to fight law enforcement.
The witness said he heard a very loud explosion near the police station.
Police ordered nearby shops to close after the blast, according to Didin Khaerudin, who runs a kiosk near the police station.
Wave of Indonesian suicide bomber
“I heard a loud bang, it was so loud I could hardly hear myself think. The next thing I noticed was thick smoke billowing from the police office as I peeked through the window,” Khaeruddin told AFP.
In October 2002, al-Qaeda-linked militants detonated bombs at a bar and nightclub on Bali, killing more than 200 people.
Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, hit by a wave of suicide bomber carried out by Islamic State-linked group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah in May 2018.
During a Palm Sunday mass in Makassar, South Sulawesi, 20 people wounded by two motorbike bombers in 2021.
