APD | Indonesia’s chief security minister attacked by alleged IS supporter

By APD writer Adtiya Nugraha

Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto was attacked during his visit in Banten province on Thursday with Police said the attackers were deeply exposed to Islamic State (IS) radical teaching.

Police have arrested two suspects consisted of a man and a women related to the attack against the chief security minister.

“The attackers are exposed to radical teachings. We are now investigating their relations with JAD Cirebon or Sumatra branches,” Indonesian Police Headquarters Spokesperson Dedi Prasetyo told a press conference here, referring to the banned homegrown radical group which stated its allegiance to IS.

As Indonesia intensifies measures against radical groups, police and government officials involved in the measures have been targeted by members of those groups, he said.

The chief security minister was attacked by a man who quickly stabbed a knife on the minister’s body as he came out from a car when he stopped over in Banten’s Pandeglang square during his visit in the province in the morning.

The incident took place after he inaugurated a campus facility in Pandeglang.

Firmansyah, the director of a hospital in Padeglang that provides initial treatment for the chief security minister aftermath the attack, said that Wiranto suffered two deep stabbing injuries.

Due to the deep stabbing injuries in the lower part of the chief minister’s stomach, he was transferred to hospital in Jakarta that has more advanced medical facilities.

Wiranto was eventually flown with a helicopter to an army hospital in Jakarta for further treatment.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)