Jakarta: Two members of an Islamic State (IS)-linked terror network stabbed Thursday Indonesia’s chief security minister Wiranto, intelligence head Budi Gunawan said, as the powerful politician underwent emergency surgery for his wounds.
Television images showed security officers wrestling a man and woman to the ground in Pandeglang on Java island after the attack on Wiranto, who goes by one name, as he was exiting a vehicle.
The suspects were identified as 31-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and Fitri Andriana, 21 – a married couple, according to local media.
They are members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group responsible for deadly suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya last year, State Intelligence Agency chief Budi Gunawan told reporters here.
JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the IS in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy.
Wiranto, 72 – who police have said was one of several targets in an earlier failed assassination plot – was rushed by helicopter to the Indonesian capital where he was treated for two knife wounds in his stomach.
“He (Wiranto) is currently in surgery and I ask that all Indonesians pray that he gets well soon,” said President Joko Widodo. “And I ask for everyone’s help in fighting radicalism and terrorism because we can only do it together,” he added.
Three others – a local police chief and two aides – also suffered knife wounds in Thursday’s attack but authorities said they had non-life-threatening injuries.
An eyewitness told this agency that the female attacker was dressed in a body-and-face-covering niqab. “When the car stopped, there were people circling around, protecting Wiranto,” he said.
“But a man got into the circle and stabbed Wiranto. The woman also tried to stab him. He was arrested and the woman fought the police,” added the eye-witness.
AFP