Jakarta – The double suicide bombing on Wednesday night near a Transjakarta bus station in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, that killed three police officers was an act of retaliation against the police, an analyst has said.
The director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), Sidney Jones, said on Thursday that the police had been seen as protectors of a thogut state that rejects application of Islamic law. In Islamic theology, thogut refers to those who worship anything other than Allah.
"The police are the ones who arrest mujahidin [one who engages in jihad] and sometimes kill them in operations [...]," she said on Thursday.
She said the purpose of the attack was also to show their presence following numerous police actions in past years that had weakened terrorist groups in the country.
Three police officers fell victim to the Kampung Melayu bomb blast while escorting a pawai obor (torch parade) to welcome the fasting month of Ramadhan, which begins on Saturday.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto previously said that the police had detected possible attacks in Jakarta, but were not able to identify when or where they might happen.
"No country in the world can prevent terrorist attacks. Look at the United Kingdom, which has one of the most sophisticated intelligence operations in the world," Sidney said, referring to a suicide bombing at a pop concert in the British city of Manchester, late on Monday. (fac)