JAKARTA, Indonesia: Five members of the police special counterterrorism squad Detachment 88 were killed and another was being held hostage after a riot broke out in a detention center for terror suspects on the outskirts of Jakarta late on Tuesday.
National police spokesman Inspector General Setyo Wasisto said at a press conference on Wednesday that one inmate was also killed in the riot. He added that the situation at the high-security detention center in Depok, a suburb south of the Indonesian capital, was now under control.
Negotiations were under way to release the hostage. Four police officers have been deployed to negotiate with inmates who had managed to get hold of the officers’ firearms.
“We are still working to find the best resolution. We don’t set a deadline, but we hope the sooner the better, and we are trying to get them to agree with our negotiators’ requests,” Wasisto said.
He added that the riot began when an inmate became impatient with officers who were checking food that had been sent in by his family.
Chief security minister Wiranto, declined to comment further, adding: “We are dealing with this very carefully because it is a matter of national security.”
Daesh-linked media outlet Amaq news agency said the group had claimed responsibility for the violence, but police denied the claims and urged the public to dismiss them.
Mohammed Hasan Ansori, a counterterrorism researcher at The Habibie Center think tank, said the incident was caused by flaws a flawed rehabilitation process for terror-related convicts and the government’s insufficiently thorough deradicalization program, which only focuses on religion.
Bobby Rizaldi, a lawmaker from House of Representatives’ Commission which oversees defense, questioned police protocol in the high-security detention center, which holds terror-related inmates while under investigation or on trial.
“How could we keep terror inmates there when the security protocol was breached? They were really caught off guard because it happened in a facility that is like a shrine for the police. This is a real blow for them,” he said.
Neta S. Pane, chairman of police watchdog Indonesia Police Watch, criticized the police for being slow to release details of the incident. He also questioned the police statement that the situation was under control while an officer was still being held hostage and the 165 inmates had control over police weapons.
“We are really worried if the police were not being cautious they would eventually kill the officer and launch a suicide attack. It would be a big win for them,” Pane said.
