Suicide attack at Indonesia Police headquarters

Two bike-borne militants blew themselves up at an Indonesian police headquarters in Surabaya city on Monday, police said. However they did not divulge the number of fatalities.

The attack took place at the entrance of the Surabaya Police headquarters on Jl. Sikatan at 8.50 a.m., the Jakarta Post reported.

It came just a few hours after a bomb prematurely went off in Sidoarjo, East Java, late on Sunday and a series of bomb attacks earlier in the day on three churches in the second largest city in the country killing over a dozen people.

East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera confirmed the attack on the police headquarters, the Jakarta Post said. However, he did not give any information on the fatalities or damages in the attack.

Citing CCTV footage from the scene, Mangera said a man and a woman on the bike stopped at the security checkpoint.

"That's where the explosion happened," he added. "Two people were riding (on the motorcycle) and a woman was sitting at the back."

Mangera said four police officers and six civilians were injured in the attack.

CCTV footage circulating of the attack showed that the source of the explosion came from a motorcycle. Eyewitnesses further added that a child was sitting alsong with the couple, the Jakarta Post reported.

The video footage displayed one car and two motor cycles entering the gate as police personnel were conducting checking. Suddenly, explosion occurred on one of the motor cycles. Human body parts were seen falling on the ground, Xinhua news agency reported.

This follows three Surabaya churches bombed during Sunday services by a family of six, including two young daughters. The Islamic State (IS) terror group claimed responsibility.

The family had returned from Syria, police said. National police chief Tito Karnavian said they belonged to an IS-inspired network, Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD).

The bombings at the three churches were Indonesia's deadliest since the Bali attack in 2002, when 202 people -- mostly foreigners -- were killed in the attack on a tourist nightlife district.

The Muslim-majority country appeared to be grappling with homegrown militancy and rising intolerance towards religious minorities, the Jakarta Post reported.

A further three people were killed and two wounded when another bomb exploded at an apartment complex in the same city, the second biggest, just hours after the church bombings, police said.

The East Java Police have found a connection between the church bombings and Sidoarjo bombing. "Similar types of explosives were used," Mangera said.

Both the Surabaya church bombings and Sidoarjo bomb explosion involved family members, he added.

Separately in Jedong village of Sukodono, an anti-terror squad was involved in a firing exchange with militants, and one person was shot and six bombs were seized. The police arrested two men and one woman, based on a photo display, Xinhua reported.

--IANS

in/