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155 houses affected, some decimated by Sibolga bomb blast: Sibolga Mayor
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Around 155 houses in Sibolga, North Sumatra, lay in ruins after a bomb was detonated by Solimah, the wife of suspected terrorist Abu Hamzah aka Husein, on Wednesday (Antara/Irsan Mulyadi)
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round 155 houses in Sibolga, North Sumatra, were partly destroyed and some decimated by a bomb that exploded on Wednesday, according to Sibolga Mayor Syarfi Hutauruk.
The bomb was detonated by Solimah, the wife of suspected terrorist Abu Hamzah aka Husein, while the police were persuading her to surrender following Husein’s arrest.
“You can imagine how powerful the bomb was if it could [affect] 155 houses. Luckily, the National Police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad had already evacuated residents before the explosion,” Syarfi said on Sunday.
He added that the incident had resulted in 166 families becoming homeless. In response, Syarfi said, he would coordinate with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) to help rebuild and repair damaged houses.
“Apart from money, the city administration has also been giving rice, instant noodles, drinking water and eggs to affected families,” said Syarfi who added that his team had also given Rp 1 million (US$70) to each family.
Prior to the explosion, Densus 88 had arrested Husein who is allegedly linked to the Islamic State (IS) group. Not long after that, his wife, Solimah, had thrown a homemade bomb at the police officers and local residents who had entered her house.
Naim, a resident who was injured by the bomb, said he had gone to Husein’s house after he had heard that police officers were approaching the neighborhood.
When he arrived at the location, police officers asked him to persuade Solimah to leave the house but they were instead welcomed with a pipe bomb.
“When the bomb went off, I was instantly knocked back [from the bomb’s impact] and got hurt. At the time, many of our [neighbors] had already been hurt but police officers nearest to the house and I had the most severe wounds,” said Naim who is currently being treated at a hospital in Sibolga.
The experience, he said, had traumatized him as he was now “easily startled by the slightest bang”.
Following the first explosion, Solimah detonated another bomb after a 10-hour stand-off with the police at her other house, killing herself and her child in the process.
As of Sunday, Densus 88 had arrested six suspects linked to the terrorist attack, including Asmir Khoir aka Ameng and Halimah as well as three women identified as R, M, and YS. They were arrested in different parts of the country. (mai/swd)
