TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The main road at the Wisma Indah Housing Complex in the Rungkut subdistrict, Surabaya, East Java, barely reaches 70 meters. But it was on this brick-paved road that YF, 17, and his 15-year-old brother, FH, were recently seen speeding on a motorcycle. Both teens are the sons of Dita Oepriarto, owner of the sixth house from the housing complex's entrance.
According to Abi Akbar, 23, who lives near Dita's house, the boys, in grade nine and 11, would travel past his home on their motorcycle nearly every day. “Oddly enough, they wouldn't drive straight but in a zigzag,” Abi told Tempo last week.
Sunday two weeks ago, at around 6:30 am, YF and FH were again seen riding their motorcycle. This time, the two passed Jalan Ngagel Madya, seven kilometers from their home. They made a turn and entered the Santa Maria TakBercelaChurch. An explosion was heard a moment later. The bomb carried by FH had exploded. The two died instantly.
About 45 minutes later, YF's mother, Puji Kuswati, 42, also carried out a suicide attack with a bomb carried in a fanny pack at the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) in Jalan Diponegoro, about three kilometers away from YF's location. YF's two younger sisters, aged 8 and 12, died with their mother. Similar bombs had been strapped to their thighs.
The head of the family, Dita Oepriarto, died 40 minutes after the second bombing, when the bomb he carried in the Toyota Avanza car he was driving exploded at the Surabaya Pentecostal Church (GPPS). The family's terror acts killed seven and wounded 45 others.
That night, a bomb exploded in Unit 2 on the fifth floor of the Wonocolo Apartment's Block B in Sepanjang, Sidoarjo Regency, also in East Java. Anton Ferdiantono and his wife Sari Puspitarini, both 47, died with their 17-year-old daughter. Their other three children survived.
The following day, Tri Murtono (50), his wife Tri Ernawati (43), and their three children drove two motorcycles to the Surabaya Municipal Police Department in Jalan Sikatan. When the police were about to inspect the two motorcycles, bombs carried by Tri's wife and 14-year old son exploded. Four in the family died, while the youngest daughter survived after she was flung aside in the blast.
According to National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian, Dita's, Anton's, and Tri Murtono's families knew each other. The police obtained information from Anton's surviving child that their family attended religious study sessions at Dita's house held every Sunday.
According to the National Police chief, Dita and his group belonged to the same group. “The three belonged to Jamaah Ansharud Daulah,” said Tito in Surabaya after a bomb was detonated at a police station. Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, or JAD, is a pro-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. Tito says the bombing was a direct order from a central ISIS leader to the JAD. He was reluctant to say who received the order.
It is not quite clear when Dita and the two other perpetrators joined JAD. The three families indeed used the same type of bomb material which the high-power explosive is often used by ISIS, said Tito, and is known as the 'Mother of Satan'.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
