Indonesia strengthens security after a series of bombings (Source: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s police on May 15 shot dead a militant andarrested 13 others suspected of links to suicide bombings in Surabaya city on onMay 13 and 14, which left at least 20 dead and many others injured.
Surabaya police spokesman Frans BarungMangera said the militant died in a shootout in the city with counter-terrorismpolice.
Meanwhile, 13 suspects were arrested duringraids in Surabaya and its neighbouring cities of Malang and Pasuruan.
On May 13, three Christian churches inSurabaya were hit by bombings, with the perpetrators identified to be membersof a family, including four children aged nine to 18.
The bombings were followed by a bombexplosion in an apartment building in East Java’s Sidoarjo town in the evening,which killed a mother and her 17-year-old son. The father was holding a triggerto another bomb when police arrived. He was shot dead before he could detonate.
A family of five, including aneight-year-old girl, conducted the suicide bombing in front of policeheadquarters in Surabaya city on May 14.
The use of children in terrorist plots,analysts say, represents a new and shocking development in Indonesia.
The seven children from three families whodied in suicide bombings over recent days were indoctrinated with radicalteachings by one of the fathers, who was the head of an Islamic State-linkedradical group, police said on May 15.
East Java Police Chief Machfud Arifin told apress conference that all the children, except one, of those three familiesattended regular Koran reading sessions at the home of Dita Oeprianto, 54, theSurabaya regional leader of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah.-VNA
VNA
