Bomb Explodes in Islamic Boarding School, One Dead

July 12, 2011


Mataram. A bomb has exploded at an Islamic boarding school on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, killing a senior official. The explosion occurred after the alleged murder of a police officer by a student of the same school late last month.

Local authorities said the homemade device exploded in the Umar bin Khatab Islamic Boarding School in Sanolo, Bolo, Bima, Sumbawa, on Monday evening, killing school treasurer Firdaus.

West Nusa Tenggara Police are investigating the relationship of the deceased to the bomb.

“We are still trying to obtain information. Right now we’re trying to get information about the victim from his family,” police spokesman Sudjoko said.

Student Sa’ban Umar Abdurahman, 16, allegedly stabbed a Bima Police officer to death on June 30. Saban claimed to be a member of extremist group Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid, which is trying to implement Shariah law in Indonesia.

Security at the school had recently been increased, with students receiving armed escorts even when going about normal daily activities such as shopping.

( x the JG)

July 12, 2011

An alleged Philippine-trained bomber was killed by a homemade explosive inside an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia, police said on Tuesday.

School officials and students have prevented police from entering the building since Monday’s explosion, local police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Sukarman Husen said.

But they discovered the body of the suspected bomb-maker, a 30-year-old man identified only as Firdaus, on a bus on Tuesday as it tried to leave the school compound, he said.

Eleven people have been taken in for questioning, Husen said, adding that police also confiscated a number of arrows and machetes.

Husen said the bombing victim was a treasurer at the school, but media reports alleged he was a former bomb trainee in Mindanao. According to TVOne, he was killed in an unintentional explosion while training students about bomb-making.

Police are still persuading the school officials to let them enter the compound, Husen said.

National Police spokesman Maj. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said the explosion was suspected to be from a homemade bomb being prepared to attack the police.

“Therefore they don’t allow police to enter the boarding school,” Alam told reporters in the capital, Jakarta. He added that two platoons, including soldiers, were around the complex.

The school on Sumbawa Island came to police attention late last month, when a 16-year-old student was arrested for allegedly stabbing to death an officer. Police believe he belonged to an Islamic militant group, and they said he told his interrogators that police deserved to die for hunting down jihadists.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has been battling terrorists since 2002 when al-Qaida-linked militants attacked two nightclubs on Bali island, killing 202 people, mostly foreigners.

In recent months, security forces have become the main target of extremists in Indonesia. Militants say they want to punish soldiers and police for taking part in the so-called war against terrorism.

Hundreds of Islamic militants have been arrested, tried and jailed.

Associated Press

July 13, 2011

The siege at an extremist Islamic boarding school in Indonesia dragged into a third day on Wednesday.

Armed members of the security forces still being prevented from entering the compound of the Umar bin Khatab Islamic Boarding School in Bima, Sumbawa, after a homemade bomb exploded on Monday evening, killing school treasurer Firdaus.

Reports indicate the deceased was an alleged Philippine-trained bomber, who was instructing students in bomb-making when the device exploded.

School officials and armed students have prevented police from entering the building since Monday’s explosion.

Eleven people have been taken in for questioning, but police on Wednesday were forced to admit that at least two teenage boys were mistaken as students from the school.

The boys had been watching the siege from a rice paddy and had run off when police approached.

Members of the media are being kept at least 500 meters from the school.

The school came to police attention late last month, when a 16-year-old student was arrested for allegedly stabbing a police officer to death.

Police believe he belonged to Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), a hard-line group founded by convicted terrorist Abu Bakar Bashir.

Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Alie said on Wednesday that he would support the National Police in their efforts to investigate the explosion.

“If anyone related to the bomb blasts is found to be a member of a radical group, then the boarding school must be closed and the students must be re-guided,” Suryadharma said.

He admitted the school was known to the ministry, which had previously failed in its attempts to change the perspective of the school.

A ministry team had been allowed to enter the school compound but was refused access on a second attempt, he said.

Abdul Kadir Karding, chairman of House Commission VIII, which oversees social and religious affairs, said he supported the police’s methods of attempting to end the siege.

“A persuasive approach is a must. If we use a violent approach, the police can be cornered. Certain groups would use it [against them],” he said.


(x the JG)