Two families staged Indonesian suicide bombings: police

Yahoo – AFP, Juni Kriswanto, May 14, 2018

The spate of bombings has rocked Indonesia, with the Islamic State group claiming
the church attacks and raising fears about its influence in Southeast Asia (AFP
Photo/Andy PINARIA)

Surabaya (Indonesia) (AFP) - A family of five, including a child, carried out the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Indonesia's second city Surabaya on Monday, police said, a day after a deadly wave of attacks on churches staged by another family.

The spate of bombings has rocked Indonesia, with the Islamic State group claiming both the church and police station attacks, raising fears about its influence in Southeast Asia as its dreams of a Middle Eastern caliphate fade.

Indonesia, which is set to host the Asian Games in just three months, has long struggled with Islamist militancy, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people -- mostly foreign tourists -- in the country's worst-ever terror attack.

Security forces have arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown that smashed some networks, and most recent attacks have been low-level and targeted domestic security forces.

But that changed Sunday as a family of six -- including girls aged nine and 12 -- staged suicide bombings of three churches during morning services in Surabaya, killing 18 including the bombers.

On Monday members of another family blew themselves up at a police station in the city, wounding 10.

"There were five people on two motorbikes. One of them was a little kid," national police chief Tito Karnavian said. "This is one family."

Indonesia Surabaya family attacks (AFP Photo/John SAEKI)

An eight-year-old girl from the family survived the attack and was taken to hospital, while her mother, father and two brothers died in the blast, he said.

"A martyrdom-seeking operation with an explosive-laden motorcycle hit the gate of an Indonesian police headquarters," IS's official Amaq agency reported, according to SITE.

The children were likely led to their deaths without a full awareness of their fate, said Ade Banani, of the University of Indonesia’s research centre of police science and terrorism studies.

If a family believed in traditional roles, the father "has the power, so everyone has to obey", Banani said.

"The children probably don't know what's going on or don't understand."

The father of the church suicide bombers was a local leader in extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) which supports IS, and the second family was also linked to JAD.

"It ordered and gave instructions for its cells to make a move," Karnavian said of the Islamic State's role in the church attacks.

He added that the bombings may have also been motivated by the arrest of JAD leaders, including jailed radical Aman Abdurrahman, and were linked to a deadly prison riot staged by Islamist prisoners at a high-security jail near Jakarta last week.

Abdurrahman has been connected to several deadly incidents, including a 2016 gun and suicide attack in the capital Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.

Despite their apparent allegiance to IS, the church-bombing family were not returnees from Syria, police said Monday, correcting their earlier statements.

However, hundreds of Indonesians have flocked in recent years to fight alongside IS there.

Its ambitions have been reined in after losing most of the land it once occupied in Iraq and Syria, and there are concerns that jihadists will now turn their focus on establishing a base in Southeast Asia.

Indonesian police have foiled numerous terror plots, but the coordinated nature of

 the church bombings and subsequent blasts point to more sophisticated planning 

than in the past, analysts said (AFP Photo/JUNI KRISWANTO)

'Increasingly proficient'

On Sunday evening, just hours after the church bombings, a further three people in another family were killed and two wounded when another bomb exploded at an apartment complex about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Surabaya.

That explosion appeared to have been an accidental detonation that killed a mother and her 17-year-old child who was not identified.

The woman's husband -- a confidante of the husband behind the church bombings, Dita Oepriyanto -- was badly injured in the explosion.

Police said they arrived after the explosion and shot dead the injured man, Anton Febrianto, as he held a bomb detonator in his hand.

"When we searched the flat we found pipe bombs, similar to pipe bombs we found near the churches," said Karnavian.

Police said they also shot dead four suspects,including the second-ranking member of the JAD cell in Surabaya, in raids on houses and offices Monday while nine others were arrested.

Indonesian police have foiled numerous terror plots, but the coordinated nature of Sunday's church bombings and the subsequent blasts point to more sophisticated planning than in the past, analysts said.

"There is definitely a growing technical proficiency," said Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asian security expert at the National War College in Washington.

"To pull off three near-simultaneous bombings is the hallmark of a group that is thinking."

Abuza questioned the police suggestion that the attacks were ordered by the IS leadership abroad, but said it would likely boost its presence in Southeast Asia as it fades elsewhere.

"(They're) going to continue to benefit from operating transnationally in Southeast Asia," he said.

#UPDATE A family of five, including a child, carried out the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Indonesia's second city #Surabaya, police say, a day after a deadly wave of attacks on churches staged by another family https://t.co/K7zyQmf76f

— AFP news agency (@AFP) May 14, 2018

Deadly Indonesia church suicide bombings committed by one family

Yahoo – AFP, Juni Kriswanto, May 13, 2018

Indonesia has been on high alert over attacks by militants (AFP Photo/
JUNI KRISWANTO)

A family of six including two young daughters staged suicide bombings at three Indonesian churches during Sunday services, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group.

The bombings at three churches in Surabaya were Indonesia's deadliest for years, as the world's biggest Muslim-majority country grapples with homegrown militancy and rising intolerance towards religious minorities.

A further three people were killed and two wounded when another bomb exploded at an apartment complex in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, just hours later, police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The church bombers -- a mother and father, two daughters aged nine and 12, and two sons aged 16 and 18 -- were linked to local extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) which supports IS, said national police chief Tito Karnavian.

Local media reports say they may have returned from Syria, where hundreds of Indonesians have flocked in recent years to fight alongside IS in its bid to carve out a caliphate ruled by strict Islamic law.

The mother, identified as Puji Kuswati, and her two daughters were wearing niqab face veils and had bombs strapped to their waists as they entered the grounds of the Kristen Indonesia Diponegoro Church and blew themselves up, Karnavian said.

The father, JAD cell leader Dita Priyanto, drove a bomb-laden car into the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church while his sons rode motorcycles into Santa Maria church, where they detonated explosives they were carrying, Karnavian said.

"All were suicide attacks but the types of bombs are different," he said of the church attacks.

Police and soldiers examine a site following attacks outside the Surabaya 

Centre Pentecostal Church (AFP Photo/JUNI KRISWANTO)

Coordinated attacks

The group, led by jailed radical Aman Abdurrahman, has been linked to several deadly incidents, including a 2016 gun and suicide attack in the capital Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.

That was the first assault claimed by IS in Southeast Asia.

Police on Sunday said four suspected JAD members were killed in a shootout during raids linked to a deadly prison riot this week.

Five members of Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism squad and a prisoner were killed in clashes that saw Islamist inmates take a guard hostage at a high-security jail on the outskirts of Jakarta. IS claimed responsibility.

Karnavian said Sunday's church attacks may have been revenge for the arrest of some of JAD's leaders and for the prison crisis which eventually saw the surrender of the radical inmates.

The Pope offered support over "the severe attack against places of worship", while President Joko Widodo called for Indonesians to "unite against terrorism".

"The state will not tolerate this act of cowardice," he told reporters in Surabaya.

East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera confirmed the deaths of 13 people in the church bombings, with about 40 injured in the coordinated attacks at around 7:30 am (0030 GMT).

Images showed a vehicle engulfed in flames and plumes of thick black smoke as a body lay outside the gate of Santa Maria Catholic church, with motorcycles toppled over amid the mangled debris.

In addition to the suicide blast police experts defused two unexploded bombs at the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church.

Later on Sunday night a bomb killed three people and wounded two, all from the same family, who occupied the fifth floor of a low-cost Surabaya apartment complex, East Java police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said.

"Three people have died, two are in the hospital and one is safe," he told AFP via Whatsapp.

Police with dogs examine a site following attacks outside the Surabaya Centre 

Pentecostal Church (AFP Photo/JUNI KRISWANTO)

The explosion hit the apartment complex about 9 pm, local media reported, and residents were evacuated from the building after the blast.

Yono, tenant coordinator at the apartment block, said the family had lived there since 2015.

'Professional' attacks

Concerns about sectarian intolerance in Indonesia have been on the rise, with churches targeted in the past.

Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia's 260 million people are Muslim, but there are significant numbers of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

Police shot and wounded an IS-inspired radical who attacked a church congregation outside Indonesia's cultural capital Yogyakarta with a sword during a Sunday mass in February. Four people were injured.

In 2000 bombs disguised as Christmas gifts and delivered to churches and clergymen killed 19 people on Christmas Eve and injured scores more across the country.

The archipelago nation of some 17,000 islands has long struggled with Islamic militancy, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people -- mostly foreign tourists -- in the country's worst-ever terror attack.

Sunday's bombings had the highest death toll since nine people were killed in 2009 attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta.

Security forces have arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown in recent years that smashed some networks, and most recent attacks have been low-level and targeted domestic security forces.

But the coordinated nature of Sunday's bombings suggested a higher level of planning, analysts said.

"Recent (previous) attacks have been far less 'professional'," Sidney Jones, an expert on Southeast Asian terrorism and director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told AFP.

AirAsia final report blames crew, computer fault for crash

Indonesia's National Transport Safety committee has released the details of its investigation into the downing of AirAsia Flight QZ8501. The tragedy was the result of computer and human error, it said.

Deutsche Welle, 1 Dec 2015

The final report on the crash of an AirAsia flight that killed 162 people last year blamed the disaster on a combination of a technical fault and subsequent crew action. The findings were released on Tuesday after a nearly 12-month investigation into the tragedy.

The initial problem was a cracked soldering joint on part of the aircraft's computer system - specifically the Rudder Travel Limited system - which controls the rudder's movement. According to the report, this had caused a series of malfunctions - 23 times in the year leading up to the December 28, 2014, crash and four times during the last flight of the Airbus A320 airplane.

"Subsequent flight crew action resulted in inability to control the aircraft ... causing the aircraft to depart from the normal flight envelope and enter a prolonged stall condition that was beyond the capability of the flight crew to recover," said a statement from Indonesia's National Transport Safety committee.

After the fourth warning signal about the malfunction, the pilots of Flight QZ8501 flipped the circuit breakers on part of the plane's control panel in an attempt to reset the system. Instead, this caused the autopilot to switch off and the aircraft started to roll.

The report also stated that information from the flight data recorders did not enable investigators to determine what role the stormy weather that day played in the downing of the flight.

Flight QZ8501 had taken off from Surabaya, Indonesia, and was bound for Singapore. It crashed less than halfway into the two-hour flight. The disaster helped highlight the problematic traffic volume of flights in Southeast Asia, as air travel in the region increases in affordability and popularity.

es/tj (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Fortune Ranks Surabaya Mayor Risma Among World’s Greatest Leaders

Jakarta Globe, Mar 27, 2015

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini. (JG Photo/Yudek)

Jakarta. Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has been named as one of the world’s 50 greatest leaders by American business magazine Fortune.

Risma, as she is popularly known, is ranked 24th on the list, above Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun and Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She is the only Indonesian included.

“Elected as Surabaya’s mayor in 2010, Rismaharini has transformed her city of 2.7 million people into a new kind of Indonesian metropolis, one that celebrates green space and environmental sustainability,” the magazine said.

Other notable leaders included were China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is ranked top of the list.

In February last year Risma was named world mayor of the month by the City Mayor Foundation.

Risma, who has a degree in architecture, rose to fame in 2005 as the head of the Surabaya park department which is responsible for rejuvenating the city’s parks and developing more green spaces.

The mayor has been praised for her hands-on approach to the city’s problems, such as picking up trash along the roadside or getting out of her car and directing traffic.

But not everyone has been happy with her performance. Last year, she received both praise and criticism for closing down Indonesia’s biggest red light district, also known as Dolly. She sent sex workers back to their home towns with a small amount of money to start new businesses.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini. (JG Photo/Yudek)

Related Article:

Surabaya’s Tri Rismaharini Honored as One of World’s Best Mayors

Surabaya’s Tri Rismaharini Honored as One of World’s Best Mayors

Jakarta Globe, Feb 04, 2015

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini. (JG Photo/Yudek)

Jakarta. Tri Rismaharini of Surabaya has been named one of the best mayors in the world, following in the footsteps of President Joko Widodo.

The World Mayor Project, which since 2004 has awarded the World Mayor Prize to “honor those who have made long-lasting contributions to their communities and are committed to the well-being of cities nationally and internationally,” on Tuesday declared Risma, as she is known, the second runner-up of the 2014 edition of the award.

She also receives the World Mayor Commendation for services to the city of Surabaya.

The 2014 World Mayor Prize went to Naheed Nenshi, the mayor of the Canadian city of Calgary, and first runner-up to Daniel Termont of Ghent, Belgium, who was also conferred the World Mayor Commendation for services to European cities.

The World Mayor Project cited Risma for “energetically promoting her social, economic and environmental policies in Indonesia’s second-largest city.”

“Tri Rismaharini often talks of the need to govern not only for the people but also with the people,” it said. “She learnt from the experience of other fast-growing cities in Asia and Europe that massive new developments can alienate people. The mayor is therefore keen to match built development with social programs.”

Risma’s achievement matches that of Joko, who was also named second runner-up in the 2012 edition of the World Mayor Prize for his leadership of his hometown of Solo in Central Java.

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Fortune Ranks Surabaya Mayor Risma Among World’s Greatest Leaders