One of the Terror Suspects Killed in Weekend Attack in E. Java Was a Teenager, Police Say
Jakarta. The National Police said one of the six terror suspects involved in a drive-by shooting in Tuban district, East Java, at the weekend was a teenager from Semarang, Central Java.
The teenager, only identified by the initials S.A., was killed in a subsequent shootout with police on Saturday (08/04), along with the five other suspects.
He was identified as a resident of Ngaliyan subdistrict in Semarang, where he recently graduated from a vocational school.
The suspects were reportedly members of the terror group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). Police say it is unlikely that the organization will seize its acts of terror, as it is establishing a growing number of cells, especially targeting young people outside Java, such as in East Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi.
"They are seeking youngsters; recruiting those in the younger generation they see as potential members of their cells. However, not all young people can be recruited," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said in Jakarta on Monday.
"The young ones are more agile and easy to be influenced [by radical ideologies]," he added.
Boy said police are conducting further investigations into the suspects' backgrounds.
"We are examining the vehicle [used in the drive-by shooting], as well as its owner in Semarang. The young men were probably given allowances and weapons, and then exposed to the [organization's] doctrine on their 'enemies,'" the police spokesman said.
The teenager was described by his friends as a friendly and easy-going person. However, his behavior changed over the past four months.
The authorities have yet to locate his next of kin, while his body and those of the five other suspects are still undergoing forensic examinations.
Meanwhile, Zulfa, the wife of another suspect identified as Y.R., said that her husband had left their home for a month-long seminar in Malang, East Java, ahead of the attack.
"He said there was an event in Malang. [...] he left the house alone on Thursday. Last time [I spoke to him] was on Friday, he said he was still in Malang. He was in a seminar," Zulfa told BeritaSatu reporter on Monday.
The suspects were reportedly killed while attempting to flee into a plantation after they abandoned their vehicle in Suwalan, Jenu subdistrict during a police pursuit in the wake of the drive-by shooting.
Watch Indonesia Highlights at 8 p.m. tonight on the Jakarta Globe News Channel and Facebook Live to find out more about the investigation into the terrorist attack in Tuban.
Tags: Keywords: