Indonesian police Sunday confirmed regional terror outfit Jemaah Islamiyah as the culprits behind twin suicide blasts at Jakarta hotels, and said one of the bombers had been identified, Al Arabiya reported.
The blasts, suspected of being carried out by Islamic fighters, left some bodies so badly mutilated they were difficult to identify and two decapitated corpses were believed by police to belong to the suicide bombers.
"We identified one corpse as that of a suicide bomber but it is difficult to identify him in full," national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a press conference, but added that clues about the explosive devices showed a link between the bombs used in JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton and those used in previous attacks carried out by the group.
"They are from the same school. We found similar materials, similar tools, a similar method. That’s their job, that’s the same network, they are JI," national police spokesman Nanan Soekarna told a press conference.
Jemaah Islamiyah, which draws inspiration from al-Qaeda, has carried out dozens of bombings in Indonesia in the past decade including 2002 attacks in Bali that left more than 200 dead, mostly foreign tourists. In 2003 an attack on Marriott Hotel in Jakarta left 13 people dead.
Face reconstruction
He said investigators were reconstructing the mangled faces of the two suicide bombers who targeted the hotels during the breakfast period Friday when they were packed with businessmen and diplomats.
"Following the preliminary results of facial reconstruction, both suicide bombers are male," he said, quelling speculation that a woman was involved.
"One of them has been identified. I cannot tell you his complete name but he has the initial ‘N’. And another body is still in the process of identification."
Soekarna said nine people were killed in the attacks. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Saturday put the toll at eight, including three Australians and a New Zealander, as well as the two suicide bombers.
Investigators say the bombers stayed in Room 1808 of the Marriott for two nights before the attacks and disguised themselves as guests when they walked into crowded dining and meeting areas and detonated their suitcase devices.
The bombs — brought into the hotels despite airport-style security measures — were packed with metal nuts to maximize the carnage.
The state news agency Antara said police had also recovered a laptop believed to belong to one of the bombers, containing information and codes they used to communicate with each other.
Noordin Mohammed Top
Ansyaad Mbai, chief of Indonesian security ministry’s anti-terror desk, said that evidence pointed to Malaysian-born extremist Noordin Mohammed Top, who leads a violent splinter faction of JI.
Noordin is accused of masterminding bombings at the Jakarta Marriott in 2003, the Australian embassy in 2004 and Bali restaurants in 2005 which have killed more than 40 people.
Mbai said the advanced skills and planning used to pull off the blasts at the luxury hotels — among the most tightly guarded buildings in Indonesia — were extremely disturbing.
"Their new skills and advanced tactics, enabling them to smuggle the explosives into the targeted site, pose a very serious threat for our country," he told AFP.
"While they previously detonated the bombs from outside of the targeted place, now they managed to smuggle the bombs into the hotel and stayed several days in the hotel room where they planned the attacks," he said.
"Nobody can predict terror attacks. What we can do is to review our security system to get a more effective approach."
National police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri has called on hotels and shopping malls across the vast, mainly Muslim archipelago of 234 million people to raise their security protocols in response to the bombings.