JAKARTA – Two alleged Islamic State group militants stabbed a police officer to death in western Indonesia, authorities said yesterday, in the latest assault targeting officials in the world’s most populous Muslim country.
The two attackers shouted ‘‘Allahu Akbar’’ or God is great as they entered a security post in North Sumatra’s police headquarters in Medan city where they stabbed a police officer, officials said.
Several police officers fought back against the militants, killing one and critically injuring another.
‘‘We suspect the attackers have links with IS and Bahrun Naim, because we found a IS flag, books and CDs linked to IS in the house of one attacker,’’ national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto told AFP.
Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian who is fighting with IS in Syria, has been accused of directing a series of mostly botched terror plots in his homeland in recent years.
Hundreds of radicals from Indonesia have flocked abroad to fight with IS, and the country has seen a surge in plots and attacks linked to the jihadists over the past year.
The attack happened just hours before Eid prayers were held, including at the North Sumatra police headquarters, as part of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Police are also investigating whether yesterday’s incident was linked to the recent capture of three militants accused of plotting to attack police, Wasisto added. (AFP)
