JAKARTA, INDONESIA (APP) – A suicide bomber riding a motorbike blew himself up in an attack on an Indonesian police station on Tuesday, leaving one officer injured, an official said.
The attack in Solo city, the hometown of President Joko Widodo, came as the Indonesian leader was preparing to celebrate Eid with his family.
The attacker forced his way into the yard of the police headquarters in Solo city on Java island early on Tuesday as officers were preparing for an operation, said national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar.
“He argued that he wanted to go to the canteen. He forced his way in using a motorbike and blew himself up,” the spokesman told television station Metro TV.
The suspected militant died after blowing himself up. A police officer was also injured, he added.
The authorities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation are on alert a day before Eid, amid fears that Islamic State-linked militants could launch fresh attacks after January’s deadly assault in Jakarta.
President Joko Widodo called for people to remain on alert after the attack, which happened on the last day of the Ramazan and a day before Eid.
“We urge people to stay calm… to continue focusing on fasting and to not be afraid in the face of such acts of terror,” he said.
“I have ordered the police chief to hunt down and catch the network linked to this suicide bombing.”
The Jakarta attacks claimed the lives of four civilians and four assailants, and marked the first major Islamist terror attack in Indonesia for seven years.
Indonesia has suffered several Islamic extremist attacks in the past 15 years, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
A crackdown by the state had weakened the most dangerous networks, but the emergence of IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for radicals across the country.
