Jakarta Bombers Suspected of Having IS Links

TODAY

25 May 2017

The two suicide bombers who set off a blast that killed three police officers at a Jakarta bus station on Wednesday night are linked to the Islamic State (IS) militant group, Indonesian police said yesterday. Analysts contacted by TODAY believe that the Jakarta attack was unlikely to be inspired by the Manchester blast on Monday that killed more than 20 people and injured about 120 others at a pop concert, but more likely timed to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan.

The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan begins today, and the IS has declared this month as one to “wage holy war”, Professor Rohan Gunaratna of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) told TODAY. The Jakarta blasts, as well as recent Islamic State advances in the Philippine city of Marawi, were believed to be carried out to prepare jihadists for a “sustained campaign during the holy month”, he added.

Going forward, terrorism analyst Jasminder Singh, who is with RSIS, urged caution as extremist groups in different parts of the world seem to be competing with one another to cause mayhem. “While security agencies in the region have done well in curbing militancy, they need to be vigilant as we will never know where and when the next strike will take place,” he said.

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