A militant who police accuse of plotting Thursday’s deadly terror attack in Jakarta instructed his cells in Indonesia to launch the attack, according to Jakarta Police Chief Tito Karnavian.
Karnavian spoke to CNN one day after the violence erupted midday, killing at least two, wounding 24 and raising alarm about terrorism in the world’s most populous Muslim country.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in an official statement posted online by the terror organization.
“We have been informed by our intelligence that an individual named Bahrun Naim, based on the communications ... instructed his cells in Indonesia to mount an attack in Indonesia,” Karnavian said.
Naim, who police believe is living in Syria, was apprehended by Indonesian authorities in 2010 for illegal possession of ammunition and was brought to justice, the police chief said. Naim was sentenced to at least 2½ years in prison.
The militant then left Indonesia, and is in Raqqa, “as part of the high ranks of ISIS,” Karnavian said.
“He created cells or a branch of ISIS named Katibah al Nusantara. His vision is to join, to unite all ISIS supporting elements in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines,” the chief said.
Police spokesman Anton Charliyan had said earlier that Naim is in Syria but sent money back home to Indonesia to finance the attack.
A blog containing ISIS teachings likely belongs to Naim, according to an Indonesian anti-terror source.
The blog contains posts written in the Bahasa Indonesia language on how to conduct terror attacks, lessons learned from the Paris attacks, how to avoid intelligence surveillance, how to make homemade pistols and how to conduct guerrilla warfare in cities, among others.
Authorities in Indonesia have been monitoring the blog for two years, the anti-terror source said. He added it’s “highly possible” the blog is run by Naim himself or by people posting on his behalf.
Karnavian said the difference between ISIS and terror groups formerly active in Indonesia, such as Jemaah Islamiyah and al Qaeda, is that the former is more dangerous because its ideology allows it to kill Muslims in a way that previous groups did not.
- CNN
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