Local residents found a suspicious package with the note: âTo Kompas, trash from the Islamic State [IS]â, in front of Kompas TVâs Makassar bureau on Monday night
ocal residents found a suspicious package with the note: 'To Kompas, trash from the Islamic State [IS]', in front of Kompas TV's Makassar bureau on Monday night.
Residents found the black wrapped package at about 9 p.m. local time before it was reported to the nearby Panakkukang police precinct.
A bomb squad from the Makassar Mobile Brigade (Brimob) arrived within an hour, secured the location and examined the package.
Witnesses said the team performed two controlled explosions at 11:13 p.m. and 11:23 p.m., then took the remains of the bag to the South and West Sulawesi Brimob headquarters for further inspection.
Before exploding the package, the team removed a letter handwritten on behalf of Anshor Daulah Makassar. It read: 'To the infidel media, especially Kompas TV, we urge you to stop slandering us. If you think this is a joke, don't you see media being beheaded in Syria and Iraq? Signed Anshor Daulah Makassar.'
Kompas TV Makassar bureau chief Nugroho Iman Santoso expressed his confusion, as he said the office had never received any warnings.
'It's weird. We haven't had any problems. We haven't covered news related to IS in Makassar. Kompas TV journalists are not afraid and will work as usual,' Nugroho said.
Meanwhile, South Sulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Endi Sutendi said the package did not contain explosive material.
'The bomb squad assured us that the package was not a bomb. It only contained a dry cell and a cable. This is intimidation,' said Endi.
The letter in the package stated it was from IS, but Endi questioned this as there was no IS group in South Sulawesi.
However, he said the police would investigate the case and track down the sender of the package.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Makassar chapter said it deplored the incident and asked the police to investigate.
'We deplore this terror. The police should investigate this it threatens the media,' AJI Makassar chairman Gunawan Mahsar said as quoted by okezone.com on Tuesday.
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