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Medan attack perpetrators want to steal weapons for next terrorist operations: Police
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A mobile brigade (Bribob) officer guards a North Sumatra Police checkpoint on Sunday. (Antara/Irsan Mulyadi)
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orth Sumatra Police said on Monday that perpetrators of Sunday morning’s attack on a checkpoint post at the provincial police’s headquarters had targeted to steal weapons for terrorist acts.
“They were going to take weapons for future attacks on the police and military,” North Sumatra Police Spokeswoman Sr. Comr. Rina Sari Ginting told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The two attackers, identified as Sawaluddin Pakpahan and Hardi aka Ardial Ramadhana, sneaked into the police’s checkpoint post and stabbed to death Adj. First Insp. Martua Sigalingging, while wounding Brig. Erbi Ginting.
The commotion and Ginting’s cries for help attracted the attention of several mobile brigade (Brimob) personnel, who then chased the assailants, shooting Ardial dead and wounding Sawaluddin.
Read also: Medan Police attackers linked to IS: Police
Both perpetrators were allegedly connected to the terrorist group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is suspected to be behind the recent Kampung Melayu twin bombings at an East Jakarta bus station. Police suspect the group is affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) movement.
After Sunday’s attack, North Sumatra Police officers searched through Sawaluddin’s house in Medan, where they confiscated a combat knife, an IS flag and several documents on how to fight and commit suicide.
Police also apprehended and named five people as suspects for their alleged connections to the attack, one of whom is Sawaluddin’s wife. (kuk)
