IS-linked suicide bomber on motorbike strikes Indonesian police station
The Solo attack occurred a day before predominantly Muslim Indonesia, and Muslims worldwide, celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month
A suicide bomber riding a motorbike blew himself up outside an Indonesian police station Tuesday, injuring one officer in an attack officials said was linked to the Islamic State group.
The attack in Solo city, the country’s radical heartland and the hometown of President Joko Widodo, came as the Indonesian leader was preparing to visit to celebrate the Islamic holiday of Eid with his family.
The authorities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation are on alert a day before Eid, amid fears IS-linked militants could launch fresh attacks after a deadly assault in Jakarta in January.
Police said they suspected the attacker was a man called Nur Rohman, who is allegedly part of a network controlled by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant fighting with IS in Syria. Both men had been neighbours in Solo, which is also known as Surakarta.
Rohman escaped an anti-terror operation just before New Year that authorities said foiled a series of attacks, according to police.