Indonesian Police are still releasing and updating information regarding this morning’s deadly blasts at three churches in the city of Surabaya, East Java, with 10 dead and 41 injured according to the latest official casualty list (although they did not state how many of those dead include the assailants).
Some of the most disturbing reports about this morning’s violence came from eyewitnesses at one of the targeted churches, GKI Jalan Diponegoro, who said that the perpetrator was a suicide bomber accompanied by two very young girls.
According to Tempo, police have compiled witness statements indicating the perpetrator arrived at the church just before the start of church services at around 8 am. The woman came with two girls who appeared to be under the age of five and that all three were carrying bags believed to be containing explosives.
The reports said that the woman and children attempted to make their way into the church but were intercepted by a security guard who tried to stop them. That is when the explosive went off, killing all three instantly.
Police said they were still investigating the reports but did not give any more details.
A man named Mulyanto, who works as a parking attendant at GKI Diponegoro, gave Kompas a similar account of the attack and the suspected bomber and the two children she was with. According to him, the three were all wearing face veils and vests.
He said that when the women and children attempted to enter the church and the security guard tried to stop them, he was starting to go over to help with the situation when the explosion went off. He said the woman and two children, the guard and one parishioner were all severely injured in the blast.
Another witness, an area resident named Tardiyanto, gave a similar description of the suspected bomber, saying she and the two young girls she was with were wearing all black clothing and face veils, carrying bags and wearing vests.
“I saw the victim, the bomber, everything, I’m not lying, it was a woman that brought two young kids, it looked like her kids,” he said as quoted by Kompas.
If in fact that was the mode of attack at one of the churches, it was apparently not one used at all the targets. Police released security camera footage from outside another of the churches in which it appears the perpetrator drove a motorcycle into the church grounds before detonating their bomb.
Breaking: Video showing one of the Surabaya attackers riding a motorcycle into the grounds of a church and detonating a bomb. pic.twitter.com/X0DBrHB4p9
— Adam Harvey (@adharves) May 13, 2018
In addition to GKI Diponegoro, deadly blasts also hit the Santa Maria Church in Ngagel Madya and Pantekosta Pusat Surabaya (GPPS) Church on Jalan Arjuno Surabaya. The explosions occurred within minutes of each other at around 7:30 am local time.
There have not yet been any claims of responsibility but a spokesperson for the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (BIN) said they suspect the attack was carried out by a group inspired by the Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, a terrorist network with ties to the Islamic State.
Intelligence agency says Jemaat Ansharut Daulah (JAD) behind Surabaya attacks. JAD is Indonesian militant group headed by Aman Abdurahman who declared alliance with ISIL. Agency says more attacks planned, Indonesians be ware
— Step Vaessen (@stepvaessen) May 13, 2018
The attacks occurred just days after terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for a prison riot at the Mobile Brigade Command Center (Markos Brimon) detention center in Depok, West Java, during which convicted terrorists killed five police officers before being subdued. Officials say the main instigators of the riot were members of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, leading to speculation that these bombing are related and perhaps a retaliatory action.
