We secured the funeral procession because we wanted it to be conducted smoothly, and there was no rejection from local residentsMakassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Two suspected members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), RZ (44) and AZ (22), who were shot dead by South Sulawesi police during a raid on January 5, 2021, were buried under tight police security.
"We secured the funeral procession because we wanted it to be conducted smoothly, and there was no rejection from local residents," South Sulawesi police chief, Insp.Gen.Merdisyam, said here on Thursday.
Several personnel from the South Sulawesi police's mobile brigade (Brimob) unit were deployed to secure the funeral procession to keep locals from preventing the bodies from being buried in their neighborhood's public cemetery, he informed.
Several times in the past, people living near public cemeteries have objected to burials of suspected members of terrorist networks in Indonesia, he explained.
Merdisyam, however, did not disclose the name of the public cemetery where the two suspected militants' bodies were buried. He only said it was a public cemetery in Gowa district.
According to police, RZ and AZ were gunned down after they tried to assault cops who raided their house in Bulurokeng neighborhood of Biringkanaya subdistrict, Makassar city, early in the morning on January 5, 2021.
Their bodies were buried soon after the Makassar police hospital's doctors finished the post-mortem examination to avoid any protest from local residents, South Sulawesi police spokesperson Sen.Coms.Zulpan said.
Both RZ and AZ's family members were not allowed to attend the funeral procession, he added.
Indonesia has been a target of terrorist attacks since 2000, and the spread of radicalism and terrorism continues to threaten the country.
In May, 2018, a church in the East Java city of Surabaya was attacked by terrorists, as reported by ANTARA at the time.
Earlier, on January 14, 2016, ISIS supporters in Indonesia launched a suicide bombing and shooting attack in Jakarta, which claimed the lives of eight people, including three civilians.
In March, 2019, Solimah, a housewife, detonated a home-made bomb inside her house in Sibolga, North Sumatra province.
Then, on November 13, 2019, a suicide bomber attacked the Medan city police headquarters in North Sumatra. The suicide bomber was killed and six people were injured in the attack.
Early on the morning of June 1, 2020, a policeman from the Daha Selatan precinct of South Kalimantan province died after a suspected terrorist attacked him with a Samurai sword.
The suspected terrorist was later shot by police officers while trying to evade arrest, South Kalimantan police spokesperson Sen.Coms.Mochamad Rifa'i said.
Before he assaulted Brigadier Leonardo Latupapua, who was on duty at the time, the attacker allegedly set a police patrol vehicle, parked in the police precinct’s front yard, on fire. The assault occurred around 2.15 a.m. local time.
Police officers shot the suspect after he ignored orders to surrender, the police spokesperson said. His body was taken to the Hasan Basyri Kandangan Public Hospital for post-mortem, Rifa'i said.
During a preliminary probe, police investigators found several items linking the suspect to the burning of the police patrol car, including a jerry can containing fuel. They also retrieved a Samurai sword from him, he added.
These incidents have added to the list of deadly assaults conducted by terrorist cells in Indonesia.
Between 2000 and 2012, more than a dozen attacks have taken place in the capital city, including the Australian embassy bombing on September 9, 2004, and the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings on July 17, 2009. (INE)
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Translator: M.Hasanuddin, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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