JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/Asia News Network) - Analysts say more attacks in Indonesia could be in the works in the wake of deadly twin bombings in East Jakarta which police have linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.
The bombings at the busy Kampung Melayu bus terminal on Wednesday (May 24) evening killed three police officers and injured 11. The two suicide bombers also died instantly.
It happened only four days after President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo touted Indonesia's deradicalisation efforts during the Riyadh Summit, which was attended by world Islamic leaders and United States President Donald Trump.
Sidney Jones, the director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC), said more attacks could be being prepared.
"We could see pro-ISIS groups trying to prove they still have the resources and will to act. Although the Indonesian police have been very effective in disrupting terrorist networks," she said on Thursday (May 25).
Taufik Andrie, a terrorism expert from the Institute for International Peace Building (IIPB), said that, given the situation in Syria and Iraq, ISIS had encouraged its supporters to commit attacks in their respective countries.
"There was a fatwa (Islamic edict) from ISIS around two or three years ago, saying that if the jihadists could not afford to go to Syria, it was best to conduct amaliyah (attacks) in their respective regions. This is a cause for concern," Taufik told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Thursday.
Jones also said the police were being targeted because they were seen as protectors of a thogut state, one that rejects the application of Islamic law.
"The police are the ones who arrest mujahidin (holy warriors) and sometimes kill them in operations," she said.
The most recent terrorist attack in Jakarta, prior to Wednesday, was on Jan 14, 2016, when the capital was rocked by multiple explosions, including one at a police post, and gunfire around the Sarinah shopping mall in Central Jakarta.
Four attackers and four civilians were killed. A total of 20 people were injured, including five police officers.
Lawmaker Tubagus Hasanuddin said there might be connections between the attack and the insurgency in Marawi, on Mindanao Island, in the Philippines.
"The government should take note of the declaration of martial law on Mindanao Island by President Duterte. The policy has limited the space for ISIS militants (to operate). It would be concerning if they (ISIS) entered Indonesia," said Tubagus.
The three police officers killed in Wednesday's Jakarta bombing - Sec. Brig. Ridho Setiawan, Sec. Brig. Taufan Tsunami and Sec. Brig. Imam Gilang Adinata - were buried on Thursday.
The authorities in regions across Indonesia have heightened security following the attack.
North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Rycko Amelza Dahniel instructed all police personnel in the province to be on alert.
"We do not want the Kampung Melayu incident to recur, especially against police officers," Rycko told reporters in Medan.
Following the attack, several embassies in Jakarta, including those of Australia, the UK, US and Malaysia, issued travel advisories for their respective citizens who currently reside in Indonesia.
