- Police ended a standoff with rioting prisoners at a detention center for terror suspects on the outskirts of Jakarta
- Five members of the police special counterterrorism squad were killed and another was taken hostage by prisoners
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo said there was “no room for terrorism” in the country after police ended a standoff with rioting prisoners at a detention center for terror suspects on the outskirts of Jakarta.
Five members of the police special counterterrorism squad were killed and another was taken hostage by prisoners at the high-security center.
The hostage was released early on Thursday, shortly before 155 inmates surrendered to police and handed over 30 weapons they had seized.
“I reaffirm that there will be no space at all for terrorism and other attempts to disrupt national security,” Widodo said in a televised press statement.
Earlier in the day, chief security minister Wiranto said the last of the inmates had been forced to surrender after being threatened with a police ambush.
“We didn’t negotiate, we gave them an ultimatum,” he said.
Rioting at the center began on Tuesday with nearby witnesses reporting multiple gunshots and explosions.
One prisoner died in the violence, which police said began when an inmate grew angry with officers who were checking food sent by his family.
Daesh-linked media outlet Amaq news agency said the terror group had claimed responsibility for the violence, but police rejected the claim.
The five police officers who died in the fighting were given posthumous promotions.
Deputy national police chief Commissioner Gen. Syafruddin said inmates involved in the standoff would be transferred to the maximum security prison island of Nusakambangan in central Java.
Firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was held on Nusakambangan before being transferred to a prison in Bogor, near the capital.