29 August 2016•Update: 30 August 2016
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia
A teenager arrested after trying to kill a priest in an Indonesian church has reportedly claimed to have been inspired by love for Daesh's leader in Syria and an attack by Daesh-linked knifemen in France.
On Monday, local newspaper Suara Pembaruan reported an investigator as saying that Ivan Armadi, 17, had said: "I did it because I was inspired by terror in France, which took place in a Catholic church, killing a priest."
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto -- many Indonesians use only one name -- has said that the man was obsessed with Daesh's Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"He had become obsessed on the Internet," Wiranto told reporters Monday at the Presidential Palace Complex, adding that a note saying "I love Al Baghdadi" had been found in the man's backpack.
On Sunday, the suspect attacked the priest at a North Sumatran church as he preached from his pulpit, leaving him with minor injuries.
Worshipers subsequently apprehended Armadi, who was carrying a backpack in which police discovered a bomb component, and a drawing inscribed with the Arabic words La ilaha illallah (there is no God but Allah).
In July, two knifemen killed an elderly priest and took other churchgoers hostage in the northern French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. The Daesh-linked assailants were shot dead by police.
Suara Pembaruan reported the investigator as saying that Armadi had learned to assemble explosives via the Internet, and bought bomb-making components online a few days before Sunday’s attack.
"He also admitted to having tested the explosive," he added.
Local chief detective Nur Fallah told Anadolu Agency by phone Sunday that police were yet to rule if the man intended a "terror" attack.
Indonesia has been on alert against extremist activities over the past year, further heightening security measures after an attack in Jakarta killed eight people, including four Daesh-linked assailants, in January.
