Two persons died and nine others sustained injuries after a suicide bombing on Wednesday morning at a police station in Bandung city, the capital of Indonesia's West Java province, media reports said, quoting the police. The deceased include the suicide bomber and one policeman, Xinhua quoted National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo as saying.
"One of our personnel who had sustained serious wounds died," the police chief said, adding that the perpetrator of the attack was identified as Agus Sujatno, according to the Xinhua report. The man was said to be affiliated to the Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) of West Java province. The same outfit was linked to the suicide bombings in East Java in 2018.
According to a Reuters report, the suspected Islamic terrorist was carrying a knife and he blew himself up shortly after entering the police station. Video footage from the scene showed smoke rising from the police station that suffered damage, with debris on the ground, the news agency reported.
"Suddenly I heard the sound of an explosion... I saw a few police officers come out from the station and they couldn't walk properly," a street vendor, who witnessed the explosion, told Reuters.
The Xinhua report said the police found several pieces of evidence at the scene, and these include a sheet of paper that indicated protest against a newly endorsed criminal code that outlaws sex outside marriage.
Quoting provincial police chief Suntana, the report said eight police personnel were wounded in the blast, while the ninth was a civilian who was walking by the area. He said all the injured have received medical treatment at a nearby hospital.
The world's largest Muslim-majority nation has seen several militant strikes in recent years, including at churches, police stations and places frequented by foreigners. According to the Reuters report, Indonesia created a tough new anti-terrorism law, after suicide bombings linked to JAD, to crack down on militants.