Jakarta – Thursday's attack on the heart of the city should have been prevented by police, as the attackers were "the same old persons" who have long been on the radar of intelligence and police have been "fooled" by terrorists, an observer has said.
Investigators have identified two suicide bombers and two gunmen – all of who have a history of terror activities – behind the coordinated attacks in the Sarinah area, Central Jakarta.
One gunman – identified as Afif, but also known as Sunakim and Sunardi – was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2010 after participating in militant training in the highland jungles of Aceh, only to be released on parole in 2013.
Co-conspirator Marwan, also known as Muhammad Ali, is alleged to have been involved in a string of armed bank robberies in North Sumatra to fund the Aceh training camp.
"These people must have been on the radar of counterterrorism and intelligence officials," Al Chaidar, a terrorism observer, said on Saturday. "Police should admit they were cheated by terrorists."
"Police might be facing terrorist intellectuals, but they already have their highly trained personnel and advance technology. There is no excuse."
Saud Usman Nasution, chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency, defended the police, saying all preventative measures ahead of the attack had been taken.
"No one was being fooled," Saud said, before adding there are more arrests to be made. "There are so many of them and we did not know where they were and what their targets are."
Meanwhile, the civilian death toll of Thursday's attack has risen after Rais Karna, a Bangkok Bank employee, succumbed to injuries overnight at the Abdi Waluyo hospital. Rais had been shot in the back of the head during the incident.
Two other civilians, identified as Rico Hermawan and Canadian national Amir Quali Tamer were also killed during the attack.