Police enter Indonesian Islamic boarding school 2 days after bomb blast and struggle

[News_Editor]

Police enter Indonesian Islamic boarding school 2 days after bomb blast and struggle

2011-07-14 07:29:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

SUMBAWA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- Two days after a bomb explosion in an Islamic boarding school in Indonesia killed one person, police were finally able to enter school grounds after struggling with armed students, officials said Wednesday.

According to National Police deputy spokesman Brigadier General Ketut Untung Yoga, police entered the Umar bin Khatab boarding school, which is located in Sanolo, Bolo, Bima, in the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, without using force; however, National Police spokesman Inspector General Anton Bachrul Alam said police had opened fire at the scene, injuring three students, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Confusing reports continued when West Nusa Tenggara police spokesman Adjutant Sr. Commander Sukarman Husein said "no shots had been fired." Nonetheless, deployed security forces included four platoons from the local Mobile Brigade police, the anti-riot squad, as well as additional forces from the Indonesian Armed Forces, as roughly 45 armed students, some teachers, and an unknown number of supporters stood guard at the school and barred police from entering.

Police on Wednesday were able to enter the school compound and searched the area. National Police Operational Assistant Inspector General Badrodin Haiti underlined that there was not a single piece of land in Indonesia that could be untouchable for the police if the law had been violated. He stated that dialogue and negotiation would always come first to avoid violence.

Untung said evidence and information gathered at the scene would be disclosed during a press conference on Thursday.

The blast occurred on Monday at around 3:30 p.m. local time in the boarding school, and police arrested 11 people possibly linked to the explosion in which school treasurer Firdaus was killed. Despite police officers unable to enter the school grounds, they remained on guard around the area, as they continue investigating the relationship between Firdaus and the bomb.

At that time, Anton said police had been unable to enter the school grounds, as students surrounded the school and were armed with sharp weapons such as machetes and arrows. Other security personnel said they were possibly carrying firearms.

On June 30, 16-year-old student Sa'ban Umar Abdurahman, also from the Umar bin Khatab Islamic Boarding School, stabbed a local police officer to death. He claimed to be a member of extremist group Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), which was founded by convicted cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and claims to be trying to implement Shariah law in Indonesia.

JAT spokesman Son Hadi, meanwhile, acknowledged that the Islamic boarding school had links with the organization.

Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali also admitted that since 2004, when the boarding school was founded, the institution had been problematic. Furthermore, he noted that if staff or students of the school were found to have links to any radical group, the school should be shut down, as students would need renewed guidance.

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