The Special Detachment 88 squad and Batu police arrested a 19-year-old man, referred to as H.O.K., for planning the bombing of two Christian churches in Indonesia. The man lives in Jakarta but currently resides in Batu City, in Malang Regency, East Java. Aswin Siregar, Special Detachment 88 spokesperson, said that H.O.K. became a member of Dawlah Islamiyah, an Indonesian-based Islamic terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State. The authorities arrested him as he was trying to dispose of evidence.

The young man joined the terrorist group online and contacted Dawlah Islamiyah propaganda online and through social media, which encouraged him to carry out the church bombings. He planned the bombings and bought the equipment and materials necessary for the attack. Authorities also arrested the parents of H.O.K. on their way to Jakarta. They questioned his parents and other people connected to this case. Police arrested another suspected terrorist in Solo as well, on his way to Jakarta by train. The investigation is still ongoing as authorities are looking for other connections to the ISIS support network.

Source: Christian Daily

Photo: Wikimedia