Indonesia's security minister stabbed by IS sympthiser, police report

Indonesia's chief security minister was allegedly stabbed by a sympathiser of the Islamic State group, AFP reported on Thursday.

A man wielding a knife attacked Wiranto in public during a visit to the town of Pandelang in Banten province on the island of Java.

"Someone approached and attacked him. The local police chief and Pak (Mr) Wiranto were injured," National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said of the attack on the 72-year-old former military general.

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Police said that the attacker was allegedly "exposed to IS radicalism", the agency reported.

A man and a woman have been arrested by Indonesian police. Television footage showed security officers wrestling the couple to the ground outside a local university following the attack.

Berkah Hospital spokesman Firmansyah said the former military general suffered "two deep wounds", but was conscious and in stable condition, adding that he would be rushed to the capital Jakarta and may need surgery.

Wiranto is an infamous military general who was indicted by the UN in 2003 for carrying out crimes against humanity in Timor Leste in their push for independence in 1999, a charge that included 280 murders and 10 major attacks.

In recent months, Wiranto has been charged with quelling the unrest in the country's West Papua region by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and has appeared ready to mete out the same kind of violence as he did against pro-independence activists two decades earlier.

Around 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed or died of starvation or illness during Indonesia's occupation of the region.

Wiranto denies any wrongdoing and has never faced court of his alleged atrocities.

The attack occurred when Wiranto just got out of the car to board a helicopter to Jakarta pic.twitter.com/GraG4jbAon — JATOSINT (@Jatosint) 10 October 2019 " style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post It looks like Wiranto's aide/security guard managed to stop the perpetrators just before he reached Wiranto The attack occurred when Wiranto just got out of the car to board a helicopter to Jakarta pic.twitter.com/GraG4jbAon — JATOSINT (@Jatosint) 10 October 2019