Indonesian police have shot dead four sword-wielding men who attacked a police headquarters in Sumatra, killing one officer, the latest in a spate of militant attacks across the Muslim-majority country.
The four men used samurai swords to attack officers at Riau police headquarters in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said, ABC reported.
He said the men had driven their car into the police yard before getting out to stage the attack.
Two officers were wounded while another was killed after one of the perpetrators tried to escape and crashed into the officer, he said.
“The one who escaped has been captured and secured at Pekanbaru police station,” Wasisto said. He added a journalist who had been at the police station was also hurt after being hit by the car.
Earlier, an internal police report said one of the dead men had a suspected bomb strapped to his body. The perpetrators have not been identified or a motive determined.
In a message carried on its Amaq news agency, the self-styled Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Devastating Surabaya Bombings
The attack comes after a series of suicide bombings by militants targeting churches and a police building in Indonesia’s second-biggest of city of Surabaya over the past few days.
The suicide bombings, involving families with young children, and an explosion at an apartment where militants were suspected to have been constructing bombs have left around 30 people dead, including 13 suspected perpetrators, police said.
The attacks are the worst in the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country since the bombing of tourist-packed restaurants in Bali in 2005.
Police suspect they were carried out by a cell of the IS-inspired group Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an umbrella organization on a US State Department terrorist list that has allegedly drawn hundreds of Indonesian sympathizers of IS.
IS also claimed responsibility for the attacks in Surabaya. After some major successes tackling militancy since 2001, Indonesia has seen a resurgence in recent years, including in January 2016 when four suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a shopping area in the capital, Jakarta.
