Arrest them, but if they attack (the police), take stern actions against themMakassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Indonesian Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo has called on communities to not panic in response to the suicide bombing outside a Catholic church in Makassar on Sunday.
"Do not panic. Please stay calm. The National Police's counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, has continued to track down the group's moves," Prabowo notified local journalists.
The police will continue its counterterrorism efforts on all terrorist networks in the country, the police chief remarked after observing the church compound in the city on Sunday evening.
Prabowo spoke of having instructed his men to promptly implement measures for early detection and prevention after finding out about the terrorist cells' planned activities.
In enforcing the law against the suspects for saving and securing the community members at large, the police officers should avoid falling victims, he emphasized.
"Arrest them, but if they attack (the police), take stern actions against them," Prabowo noted while urging local residents to continue with their routine activities.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a church on Kajaolalido Road in the Baru neighborhood area of Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi Province, on Sunday.
The couple attempted in vain to enter the church compound after security guards stopped them at the gate when a Palm Sunday Mass service had recently ended.
At least 20 people, including churchgoers and the church's security guards at the gate, got injured in the blast.
The suicide bombers, who reportedly belong to a JAD network, died shortly after conducting their attack by using a pressure cooker bomb at about 10:30 a.m. local time.
Since 2000, Indonesia has become the target of terrorist attacks, and the spread of radicalism and terrorism continues to threaten the nation.
ANTARA highlighted the repeated incidents of assaults by suspected terrorists and armed Papuan rebels on civilians and security personnel in 2020.
On May 22, 2020, notorious armed rebels had reportedly shot at two medical workers -- Almalek Bagau and Eunico Somou -- from the Wandai Health Center in Intan Jaya District, Papua Province, while they were delivering drugs for COVID-19 patients.
In another incident on June 1, 2020, a lone wolf assaulted Brigadier Leonardo Latupapua, a policeman of the Daha Selatan police precinct in South Kalimantan Province. Latupapua succumbed to grave injuries following the early morning attack.
On June 21, 2020, a man unexpectedly attacked Second Brigadier Hanif Ariyono, a driver of Deputy Chief of Karanganyar Police Commissioner Busroni's official vehicle, with a machete in Karanganyar District, Central Java Province.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: M.D.Fatir, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
