UPDATE 10:50 am: East Java Police Spokesperson Frans Barung: four police officers, six civilians wounded in Surabaya Police HQ blast. Culprits still unidentified.
UPDATE 11:50 am: East Java Police Spokesperson Frans Barung says four civilians have died, all of whom were suspected suicide bombers whose identities haven’t been disclosed. The other two injured civilians were inside the car during the blast. Four police officers confirmed wounded.
UPDATE 12:35 pm: National Police Chief Tito Karnavian: Police “almost certain” three of the suicide bombers are from one family (a father, mother, and 8-year-old child). Child survived and is now key witness.
The Indonesian province of East Java has seen three deadly explosions in just two days, the latest of which occurred at around 8:50 am today at the headquarters of the Surabaya City Police.
CCTV footage of the incident shows two motorcycles carrying two people each being stopped at the entrance gate of the police HQ before two explosions are seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajJQG8U10BM
East Java Police Spokesperson Frans Barung confirmed the attack and that several of the victims were cops, but has yet to provide more specific information about the casualties.
“Whether they were hurt or killed, please friends in the media wait [for the information] because we’re investigating the scene,” he said during a press conference, as quoted by Tribun.
Suicide bombings took place at three different churches in Surabaya on Sunday morning, killing at least 14 and injuring 42. Investigators believe that a single family (including the father, mother and four children aged 9-18) were behind the attacks and that they were linked to the Surabaya chapter of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, a terrorist network with links to Islamic State (IS). Officials also believe they were among 500 Indonesians recently returned from Syria who had gone to the Middle East to fight with IS and that they had spent some time with the terrorist group learning about terrorism tactics and bomb making.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings via its propaganda agency Amaq, calling them “martyrdom attacks”.
Then, at around 9 pm, a homemade bomb prematurely exploded in the neighboring city of Sidoarjo in what the police have disturbingly described as another family affair akin to the Surabaya church bombings. Three were killed in this incident.
We’ll have more updates for you from the Surabaya Police HQ bombing as the story develops.
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