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JAKARTA: The two suspected suicide bombers who attacked a Catholic church in Makassar, Indonesia, were husband and wife who received online bomb-making training, authorities said on Monday (March 29).
Speaking at the scene of the attack, the head of Indonesia’s National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), Commissioner General Boy Rafli Amar, said they have discovered the identity of the suspects.
“They are husband and wife,” he said, adding that the couple were millennials and one of them was born in 1995.
National police spokesman Inspector General Argo Yuwono in Jakarta said the couple were married six months ago.
Both were private sector employees, he added. “Investigations are still ongoing, including to uncover other suspects,” the spokesman said.
READ: About 20 injured after suspected suicide bombing at Indonesian church
On Sunday morning, two suspected suicide bombers arrived at a Catholic church in Makassar on a motorcycle.
They tried to enter the cathedral but a security officer stopped them. This was followed by an explosion shortly after.
The two suspects died and about 20 people were injured. As of Monday afternoon, 15 people remained in the hospital while the rest had been discharged.
ONLINE TRAINING ON PUMP ASSEMBLY
Officials have announced that the suicide bombers are members of the extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, often referred to as JAD.
The perpetrators were also part of a JAD group that had carried out a previous bombing in Jolo, Philippines, police said, adding that Sunday’s attack used a pressure cooker bomb.
Responding to a question about how the suicide bombers set the bomb, BNPT Commissioner General Amar said on Monday they had received online training.
“There is information related to online training on social media developed by them. So they developed the procedure for making explosives, and they have some high-level sources who were trained abroad,” he said.
Meanwhile, the national police chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said the suspected suicide bombers were married to a JAD member who was arrested in January. The couple also left a will.
Following the attack on Sunday, police arrested four people who belonged to the same study group as the alleged attackers.
“They are in a study group called Vila Mutiara, where each one plays the role of spreading the doctrine, planning the jihad and also playing a role in purchasing materials that will be used as tools for suicide bombings,” said the head of policeman.
Police also arrested four people in Jakarta and Bekasi, on the outskirts of the capital. Five ready-to-use bombs and ingredients to make bombs were discovered, he said.
Another person was arrested in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara province on Monday.
