Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – A small group of militants with suspected link to global terror network Islamic State attacked a police station and killed an officer with a sword in Indonesia's South Kalimantan province early on Monday.
One of the attackers was killed at the scene in South Daha subdictrict, South Hulu Sungai district. The deceased militant carried a handwritten manifesto calling Muslims to wage jihad.
It remains unclear how many people were involved in the attack, which also left a police car burned out.
"Investigation is underway but we need time before we can go to the details," South Kalimantan Police spokesman Senior Comr. Muhammad Rifai said on the phone.
The attack occurred at around 2.15 a.m. local time when only three officers were of the guard. Brigadier Leonardo Latipapua was killed with a sword inside the integrated public service office, Rifai said.
Two other officers identified as Brigadier Djoman Sahat Manik Raja and Brigadier Muhammad Azmi, who were at a different room, rushed to the scene and found one man brandishing a sword.
The attacker, later identified as Abdurrahman, was shot as he tried to attack the two officers. He was pronounced death moments later at a local hospital. Meanwhile, an unspecified number of other militants fled the scene, the spokesman said.
Police found a handwritten note carried by Abdurrahman. The manifesto, entitled "This Path is for Islam only", calls for Muslims to wage jihad wherever they are.
"I come today to fight you [police]. And my message to all my brothers wherever you are: wake up and wise up. This jihad will never stop," read part of the note seen by the Jakarta Globe from police handout.
The note carries a signature by Abdurrahman and an Islamic State symbol.
Security was beefed at the subdistrict police office immediately after the incident and members of the elite counter-terror squad Detachment 88 were deployed to hunt the perpetrators, Rifai said.