For better or worse, many Indonesians have shown that they are not afraid of terrorists following major attacks in the country. After the terror attack in Thamrin, Jakarta on January 2016, many Indonesian netizens responded by popularizing the hashtag #KamiTidakTakut (#WeAreNotAfraid) on social media, showing their resilience against those who want to spread fear using violence.
But a hashtag is one thing. That same attitude reportedly took on a much riskier form during the Bandung bomb attack yesterday. Witnesses say that dozens of high school students were exercising around the courtyard where the terror suspect detonated his homemade device.
Instead of running away to safety like most people would (and should), the students gave chase to the terror suspect, who managed to keep his distance from the kids by wielding a knife.
“I saw the man holding a knife and laughing, taunting the kids, ‘come here, come here.’ The kids then, from afar, led the suspect until he ran into the Arjuna subdistrict office. They (the kids) were screaming, ‘Terrorist! Terrorist!’” said a witness named Toni, as quoted by Kompas.
The bomber was shot dead by police after running into the building. Luckily, nobody else was hurt during the attack yesterday.
No civilian should take it upon themselves to get in harm’s way by going after armed terror suspects. But, at the same time, these high school students might have prevented further attacks by forcing the bomber to flee into the subdistrict office, possibly saving lives.
Before he met his demise, the attacker reportedly demanded that Indonesia’s anti-terror police unit, Densus 88, release all its detainees. The police chief speculated that he may have been linked to Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), a group linked to the Islamic State.
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