Jamaah Ansharut Daulah declared Daesh-linked terrorist group

The Indonesian authorities declared Jamaah Ansharut Daulah a Daesh-linked terrorist group over links to three churches blasts in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city.

At least eleven people have been killed and dozens injured in multiple suicide bombings at three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, in the worst attack the country has seen in more than a decade, according to the Guardian.

The first explosion at the Santa Maria Catholic church, which killed four, was followed by attacks at the Surabaya Center pentacostal church and GKI Diponegoro church minutes later.

The East Java police chief, Insp Gen Machfud Arifin, told reporters suicide bombers carried out the attacks using motorcycles and cars.

Initial reports from witnesses suggested one of the attackers was a woman with two children.

“I heard two explosions, one was in the church’s parking lot and the other was outside the church. The woman was with two little boys,” Johanes, a member of the GKI congregation, told Kompas TV.

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, and the national police chief, Tito Karnarvian, visited Surabaya on Sunday. At a news briefing, Widodo confirmed that two children had been used in the bombing, and condemned the “barbaric” attacks.

“I have instructed police to look into and break up networks of perpetrators,” said Widodo.

The blasts occurred within 10 minutes of each other, police said, with the first explosion at 7.30am.