Female attacker shot dead in shootout at Indonesian police headquarters

JAKARTA: An armed woman was shot dead after firing six shots at the Indonesian National Police Headquarters here yesterday.

Indonesian police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, in a media conference last night, said the 25-year-old suspect entered the headquarters area at about 4.30 pm.

“The suspect entered through the back gates of the headquarters and fired four shots at the control post and two more rounds at policemen in the area.

“Police retaliated by firing back and shooting dead the suspect,” Listyo said, without revealing the type of firearm used by the woman.

No policemen were injured in the incident, he said, adding that preliminary investigations found that the suspect, identified only by the initials “ZA”, had been a follower of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant force ideology, and was a former student at an institution of higher learning.

Investigations also found the suspect had posted a photo of the ISIS flag on her Instagram account in the last 21 hours, besides saying her goodbyes on her family’s WhatsApp group.

The ‘lone wolf’ attack took place just two days after a suicide bombing outside a church in Makassar, South Sulawesi as police conduct a massive operation to hunt down terrorist networks throughout Indonesia.

According to Listyo, so far as many as 23 terrorist suspects have been detained in several cities in Indonesia, including five in Jakarta.

-- BERNAMA