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Bandung civil servants recount terror attack
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Police personnel walk out of the Arjuna subdistrict office in Bandung, West Java, on Feb. 27 after they succeeded in arresting a suspected terrorist who had taken over the office. (Antara/Novrian Arbi)
C
ivil servants working in Arjuna subdistrict office in Cicendo, Bandung, West Java, have recounted the terror they endured when a suspected terrorist entered their building and threatened them with a knife and set fire to the second floor of the building on Monday.
The man earlier left an improvised explosive device inside a cooking pot in the nearby Pandawa Park although no casualties were caused by the subsequent explosion. After the explosion, he ran inside the subdistrict office.
"We were in a panic because he was wielding a knife and he threatened us,” Arjuna subdistrict secretary Ganjar Budi said.
Another civil servant, Dadah Jubaedah, said the suspect uttered threats and also demanded the subdistrict head. “This is a subdistrict office, where’s your boss? I’m not afraid,” Dadah said, recounting the attacker’s statements.
He threatened the civil servants for about 15 minutes before he climbed upstairs to a function room on the second floor. “We all ran outside. It was tense, frightening,” said Dadah.
Some male civil servants tried to persuade the suspect to turn himself in but his only response was to hurl down chairs from the second floor. He also pull off curtains and started a fire.
The police deployed two armed squads to neutralize the suspect, they fired tear gas and then shot him. The suspect was severely wounded, said the police, and was dead on arrival at the hospital. (evi)
