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Surakarta suicide bomber linked to Thamrin attack mastermind
Nur Rohman, 30, identified as the suicide bomber who attacked the Surakarta Police headquarters in Central Java this morning, is alleged to have been affiliated with a local offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The group is led by Arief Hidayatullah, whose patron Bahrum Naim was among the masterminds behind the attack that killed four civilians and four perpetrators in Jakarta on Jan. 14, a source has said.
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Nur Rohman, 30, is alleged to be the suicide bomber who carried out an attack at the Surakarta Police headquarters in Surakarta in Central Java this morning. (JP/Rendi Witular)
N
ur Rohman, 30, identified as the suicide bomber who attacked the Surakarta Police headquarters in Central Java this morning, is alleged to have been affiliated with a local offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. The group is led by Arief Hidayatullah, whose patron Bahrum Naim was among the masterminds behind the attack that killed four civilians and four perpetrators in Jakarta on Jan. 14, a source has said.
Nur was the only member of the group to have escaped arrest during a series of raids carried out in December last year by the National Police in which dozens of terrorist suspects were rounded up in several areas in Java, including the Greater Jakarta area, a source at the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) said on Tuesday.
The group had allegedly planned to launch an attack on New Year’s Eve revellers.
While the group's field commander Arief Hidayatullah was arrested, his patron Bahrum Nain fled the country to join the IS movement in Syria.
Police believe that Bahrum, along with IS spiritual leader in Indonesia Aman Abdurrahman, directed and financed their followers to launch the attack that was carried out earlier this year on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta.
"These people are linked to Bahrum Naim. Nur Rohman is the only group member who escaped the December raids. He appears to have traveled to East Java before returning to his hometown [in Surakarta to launch the attack],” said the BNPT representative. (dan)
