Indonesia Identifies Convicted Militant in Jakarta Attacks, Blocks Radical Websites

Local Editor

Indonesia identified one of five attackers in the deadly Jakarta violence as a previously-jailed militant whose picture snapped amid the chaos went viral in the country as the grim face of extremism.

All five attackers died in the coordinated suicide bombings and shootings in central Jakarta Thursday, which also killed two civilians, wounded two dozen people, and appeared to confirm rising fears of "ISIS's" emergence in the world's most populous Muslim country.

The attack was claimed by "ISIS", which has ruthlessly carved out a self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Relatively, police said they identified four of the five attackers, and late Friday released the first name, a militant named Afif.

Afif had trained in a paramilitary camp in Indonesia's semi-autonomous Aceh region in 2010.

He was sentenced to seven years in jail for his involvement in the camp but was released last year.

Separately, the country shut down at least 11 radical websites and several social media accounts Saturday after the deadly attack that rocked the capital.

Authorities said several accounts were found on social networking website Facebook expressing support for Thursday's attack.

In addition, government also sent letters to social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Telegram requesting that radical material be immediately blocked or taken down.

The alleged mastermind behind this week's attack, an Indonesian citizen fighting with "ISIS" in Syria, is believed to have used social media extensively to share his beliefs about the terrorist group and communicate with contacts in Indonesia using blog posts and mobile messaging apps.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team