IS claimed responsibility for the Jakarta bus station attacks that left at least three policemen dead and 12 others wounded on Wednesday (May 24). "The executor of the attack on the Indonesian police gathering in Jakarta was an IS fighter," the group's news agency Amaq said. The attack was the deadliest in Indonesia since January 2016, when eight people were killed, four of them attackers, after suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the capital. The attack was the deadliest in Indonesia since January 2016, when eight people were killed, four of them attackers, after bombers and gunmen attacked the capital Jakarta. After visiting the site of Wednesday's attacks, President Joko Widodo said Indonesia needed to accelerate plans to strengthen anti-terrorism laws to prevent new attacks. "If we make a comparison with other countries, they already have regulations to allow authorities to prevent (attacks) before they happen," Widodo told a news conference. The president said he had ordered the chief security minister to get the revisions done as soon as possible. Long-standing plans to reform Indonesia's 2003 anti-terrorism laws have been held up by opposition from some parties in parliament and concerns about individual rights. The revisions would broaden the definition of terrorism and give police the power to detain suspects without trial for longer. The changes would allow police to arrest people for hate speech or for spreading radical content, as well as those taking part in para-military training or joining proscribed groups.
